JP2006300780A - Route search system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a route search system searching easily a route of the minimum fuel consumption rate capable of reflecting a vehicle type or an operational habit of a driver, without loading a burden onto a user. <P>SOLUTION: Fuel consumption rate information in response to each travel condition of a general vehicle is preliminarily stored in a fuel consumption rate information storage part 12. Vehicle type information input by the driver or acceleration information indicating a degree of acceleration in the acceleration is also stored in a vehicle type information/acceleration information storage part 13. A control circuit 8 corrects the fuel consumption rate information stored in the fuel consumption rate information storage part 12, using a correction factor (referring to Fig. 2) corresponding to the vehicle type information or the acceleration information stored in the vehicle type information/acceleration information storage part 13. A cost corresponding to the fuel consumption rate in travel is imparted to a link and a node of a map data, using corrected fuel consumption rate information, and the route of making an additional value of costs minimum is searched out of the routes down to a destination. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a route search device that searches for a route that consumes the least amount of fuel when traveling on a route to a destination.

Conventionally, various route search apparatuses that search for a route that consumes the least amount of fuel when traveling have been proposed for a route to a destination. For example, in Patent Documents 1 to 3, a route with minimum fuel consumption is searched in consideration of a road gradient, a traffic jam situation, the number of lanes, the number of signals, and the like. Furthermore, in Patent Document 4, the relationship between the speed and fuel consumption during constant speed driving, the relationship between the acceleration state and fuel consumption at the start, the relationship between the degree of gradient and the fuel consumption, and the relationship between the loading amount and the fuel consumption is input. The route of the minimum fuel consumption is searched based on the relation of the inputted fuel consumption, taking into consideration the congestion situation of the road, the legal speed, and the gradient.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-122883 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-38594 JP-A-9-229702 JP 2000-2553 A

  By the way, normally, even if the vehicle travels under the same traveling conditions, the fuel consumption during traveling varies depending on the vehicle type. Therefore, in the techniques described in Patent Documents 1 to 3, since the vehicle type is not taken into consideration, there is a possibility that an error occurs from the actual fuel consumption. In this regard, in the technique described in Patent Document 4, detailed fuel consumption information can be input for each vehicle, and therefore, it is considered that there is little error from the actual fuel consumption. However, inputting detailed fuel consumption information for each vehicle is cumbersome and burdens the user. Furthermore, even if detailed fuel consumption information is used, the actual driving state of the vehicle varies from driver to driver, so that an error may occur between the predicted fuel consumption and the actual fuel consumption.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems, and provides a route search device that can easily search for a route with minimum fuel consumption reflecting the driving habits of a vehicle type or a driver without placing a burden on the user. With the goal.

  In order to achieve the above object, the route search apparatus according to claim 1 stores map data indicating a road by a plurality of links and nodes connecting them, each corresponding to each link and node. Map data storage means to which information on roads to be attached is attached, fuel consumption information storage means for storing fuel consumption information according to a general vehicle running state, vehicle type information, and acceleration at the time of vehicle acceleration for each driver Based on the information acquired by the acquisition means for acquiring at least one of the information, the setting means for setting the starting point and the destination, and the information acquired by the acquisition means, the fuel efficiency information stored by the fuel efficiency information storage means is corrected. Traveling to each link and node using the correction means to perform, the fuel efficiency information after the correction, and information about the road attached to each link and node A search means for assigning a cost corresponding to the consumed fuel and searching for a path having a minimum added value of the cost assigned to the link and the node among the paths from the departure place to the destination set by the setting means It is characterized by providing.

  Here, the “vehicle type information” is information for identifying a vehicle such as a distinction between a light vehicle, a normal vehicle, a 2t truck, etc., an exhaust amount, and a vehicle weight. The vehicle type information may include information on the current vehicle state such as fuel used and load weight. In addition, “information on acceleration at the time of vehicle acceleration” refers to information such as whether to start slowly or suddenly when starting from a time when the vehicle is stopped.

  The fuel efficiency information according to the driving state of a general vehicle includes the relationship between the speed and fuel consumption of a general vehicle (for example, an ordinary automobile with a displacement of 2000 cc) at constant speed, the acceleration state at the start Information such as the relationship between fuel consumption, the degree of gradient and fuel consumption, and the relationship between loading capacity and fuel consumption.

  This makes it possible to search for the minimum fuel consumption route that reflects the driving habits of the vehicle type or driver, and it is not necessary to input detailed fuel consumption information for each vehicle. be able to.

  The route search device according to claim 2 includes acceleration detection means for detecting vehicle acceleration, and the acquisition means detects the vehicle acceleration detected by the acceleration detection means as information on acceleration at the time of vehicle acceleration for each driver. It is characterized by acquiring. As described above, by directly using the acceleration information of the vehicle as the information on the degree of acceleration, the driver's driving habit can be accurately reflected.

  In the route search device according to claim 3, the acquisition unit divides a plurality of driving types of the driver related to acceleration at the time of vehicle acceleration, and causes the driver to select any one of the classified driving types. Information on acceleration at the time of vehicle acceleration for each driver is acquired. Examples of the operation type classification include “zero-yon type”, “normal”, and “slow starter”. As a result, the driver's driving habit can be easily reflected in the route search.

  The route search apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the acquisition unit divides a plurality of driving types of the driver related to acceleration at the time of vehicle acceleration, performs a questionnaire on a predetermined item to the driver, and the driving type of the driving type divided by the driver is determined. Of these, by determining which driving type the vehicle belongs to, information on acceleration of the vehicle for each driver is acquired.

  For example, a driver may not know his or her driving type. In this case, for example, “Other vehicles are traveling ahead. In this case, what do you do? Select from the following.” We surveyed several items such as “Overtake”, “Run behind the vehicle in front of it”, and “Run at my pace, ignoring the vehicle in front of it”. Then, based on the questionnaire result, the driving type of the driver is determined. As a result, the driver can acquire information on the degree of acceleration during vehicle acceleration for each driver without knowing his / her driving type.

  The route search device according to claim 5 includes road surface information acquisition means for acquiring information on the road surface of the current road, and the search means gives a cost corresponding to fuel consumed when traveling to each link and node. In some cases, information on the road surface of the current road acquired by the road surface information acquisition means is also taken into consideration.

  Information on the road surface of the current road includes, for example, the pavement state of the road such as the presence or absence of asphalt, and the road surface state such as “wet in rain”, “snow is piled up”, “is frozen”. As a method for acquiring information on the road surface of the current road, for example, there are a method of acquiring by communication with the outside such as VICS, and a method of determining whether or not the road is wet with rain by a rain sensor. . Further, it may be determined whether or not the road is frozen by measuring the temperature. The running state also changes depending on the road surface condition, and the fuel consumption changes accordingly. Therefore, by considering these pieces of information, it is possible to more accurately search for the route with the minimum fuel consumption.

  The route search apparatus according to claim 6 includes item setting means for setting items to be considered when the search means assigns a cost corresponding to fuel consumption to each link and node, and the correction means includes: Based on the information corresponding to the item set by the item setting unit among the acquired information, the fuel consumption information stored by the fuel consumption information storage unit is corrected, and when the search unit travels to each link and node When a cost corresponding to the consumed fuel is given, information corresponding to the item set by the item setting means is used among the information about the road attached to each link and node.

  For example, even if a route with the minimum fuel consumption is searched in consideration of all of the vehicle type information, the driver's driving habits, the type of road, etc., it may be different from the actual one. This is because even if the fuel consumption is predicted mathematically, the fuel consumption actually varies depending on various other factors. In this case, when a cost corresponding to the consumed fuel is given, it may happen that the cost is not taken into consideration and the actual consumed fuel is matched. For example, since there is a traffic light that is a blinking signal when traveling at midnight, the number of stops by the traffic signal is reduced compared to during daytime traveling. In this case, it may be more appropriate to give a cost corresponding to the consumed fuel without considering the presence or absence of a traffic light. In view of the above, the route search device according to claim 5 can select items to be considered when searching for a route with the minimum fuel consumption. As a result, it is possible to more accurately search for the route with the minimum fuel consumption.

  The route search device according to claim 7, wherein the item setting means prepares a plurality of states in which items to be considered when giving a cost corresponding to the consumed fuel are selected in advance, and any one of the states is selected. It is characterized by letting the driver select one. For example, a state is prepared in which items with the highest accuracy are selected in advance in each situation, such as daytime driving, nighttime driving, and heavy load mounting. Of these, by letting the driver select the one corresponding to the current situation, it is possible to easily set items to be considered in the route search.

  Hereinafter, an example in which the present invention is applied to an in-vehicle navigation device will be described.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of the in-vehicle navigation device 100 according to this embodiment. As shown in the figure, the in-vehicle navigation device 100 includes a position detector 1, a map data input device 6, an operation switch group 7, an external memory 9, a display device 10, an audio output device 11, a fuel consumption information storage unit 12, vehicle type information / It comprises an acceleration information storage unit 13, a VICS information receiver 14, and a control circuit 8 connected thereto. Each component will be described below.

  The control circuit 8 is configured as a normal computer, and includes a well-known CPU, ROM, RAM, I / O, and a bus line for connecting these configurations. In the ROM, a program to be executed by the control circuit 8 is written, and in accordance with this program, the CPU or the like executes various arithmetic processes using the following units. In particular, the control circuit 8 performs a search for a route with minimum fuel consumption, which is a feature of the present invention. The processing at this time will be described later using a flowchart.

  The position detector 1 includes a known geomagnetic sensor 2, a gyroscope 3, a distance sensor 4, and a GPS receiver 5 for GPS (Global Positioning System) that detects the position of the vehicle based on radio waves from a satellite. Have. Since these have errors of different properties, they are configured to be used while being complemented by a plurality of sensors. Depending on the accuracy of each sensor, the position detector 1 may be constituted by a part of the above-described parts, and a steering rotation sensor (not shown), a vehicle speed sensor for each rolling wheel, or the like may be used. The current position of the vehicle is detected by the position detector 1, and the control circuit 8 can recognize which position the vehicle is traveling on the searched route when performing route guidance, and the vehicle is in the route. It can be determined whether or not the vehicle is traveling along.

  The map data input device 6 is a device for inputting various data including road data, background data, landmark data, and the like. As a storage medium for storing various data, a writable storage medium such as a memory card or a hard disk can be used in addition to a read-only storage medium such as a CD-ROM or DVD-ROM.

  The road data is composed of link data and node data. This link divides each road on the map into multiple nodes such as intersections, branches, and merge points, and defines each link as a link. By connecting each link, the road is Composed. Link data is a unique number (link ID) that identifies the link, link length indicating the link length, link start and end node coordinates (latitude / longitude), road name, road type, road width, number of lanes, right turn・ Consists of data such as the presence of the left turn lane, the number of lanes, the speed limit, etc.

  On the other hand, the node data includes a node ID, a node coordinate, a node name, and a link ID of a link connected to the node, each node having a unique number for each node where roads on the map intersect, merge and branch. It consists of data such as ID and intersection type. As will be described later, when searching for a route with minimum fuel consumption, the control circuit 8 predicts the traveling state of the vehicle based on the information attached to the link data and the node data. Then, while considering the traveling state, the fuel consumption information stored in the fuel consumption information storage unit 12 described later is used to give a cost corresponding to the fuel consumed when traveling to each link and node.

  As the operation switch group 7, for example, a touch switch or a mechanical switch integrated with the display device 10 to be described later is used, and is used for various inputs such as setting of a starting point and a destination when searching for a route.

  The display device 10 is configured by, for example, a liquid crystal display, and the vehicle position mark corresponding to the current position of the vehicle detected by the position detector 1 and the map input from the map data input device 6 are displayed on the screen of the display device 10. A road map around the vehicle generated by data, background data, landmark data, and the like can be displayed. Further, the operation switch group 7 can change the road map to a predetermined scale for display, or scroll the road map for display. Further, in the present embodiment, the route searched by the control circuit 8 is displayed on the display device 10.

  The voice output device 11 is configured by, for example, a speaker, and is a device that notifies various information such as voice guidance performed at the time of route guidance by voice.

  The fuel consumption information storage unit 12 is a part that stores fuel consumption information corresponding to each traveling state of a general vehicle. Specifically, it stores data indicating the relationship between the speed and fuel consumption when traveling at a constant speed, and the fuel consumption when starting. In addition, since this fuel consumption information is corrected into the fuel consumption information suitable for the current vehicle type or the acceleration method of the driver by the vehicle type information or acceleration information stored in the vehicle type information / acceleration information storage unit 13 to be described later, this fuel consumption information storage The fuel consumption information stored in the unit 12 may be for any vehicle. In the present embodiment, the fuel efficiency information storage unit 12 stores fuel efficiency information in a 5-number car with a displacement of 2000 cc and a normal acceleration method.

  The vehicle type information / acceleration information storage unit 13 is a part that stores vehicle type information or acceleration information. Here, the vehicle type information is information for specifying a vehicle, and specifically indicates any one of a light vehicle, a normal vehicle, a large vehicle, and a hybrid vehicle. In addition, engine displacement information is also included, number information is included for ordinary vehicles, and maximum load capacity is included for large vehicles (for example, 5 numbers, displacement 1800cc). Ordinary car). On the other hand, the acceleration information is information indicating the degree of acceleration at the time of acceleration for each driver. Specifically, from the smaller degree, the “slow acceleration type”, “normal acceleration type”, “rapid acceleration type” This is information indicating one of the three types. These pieces of information are stored by a driver input operation. As will be described later, the control circuit 8 determines the fuel consumption information stored in the fuel consumption information storage unit 12 based on the information stored in the vehicle type information / acceleration information storage unit 13 when performing a route search. It is corrected.

  The VICS information receiver 14 is a device that receives information such as road traffic information distributed from the VICS center via beacons laid on the road and FM broadcast stations in various places. Information received by the VICS information receiver 14 includes, for example, traffic jam information regarding the degree of traffic jam on each road, regulation information such as traffic closures due to accidents and construction, and closure of entrances and exits on highways. When the route search is performed, the control circuit 8 predicts the traveling state of the vehicle in consideration of the traffic jam information received by the VICS information receiver 14, and gives a cost corresponding to fuel consumption to each link and node. ing.

  Next, the process of searching for the route of the minimum fuel consumption performed by the control circuit 8 which is a feature of the present invention will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  First, in step S10, it is determined whether or not the destination is set by the driver. Note that the departure location is the current location of the vehicle detected by the position detector 1. Here, when it is determined that the destination is not set (negative determination), the subsequent processing is not performed. On the other hand, when it is determined that the destination has been set (positive determination), the process proceeds to the next step S20.

  In step S20, it is determined whether vehicle type information or acceleration information is stored in the vehicle type information / acceleration information storage unit 13. Here, if it is determined that it is not stored (negative determination), the process proceeds to step S40. On the other hand, when it determines with having memorize | stored (affirmation determination), a process is advanced to step S30.

  In step S30, the fuel consumption information stored in the fuel consumption information storage unit 12 is corrected based on the vehicle type information or acceleration information stored in the vehicle type information / acceleration information storage unit 13. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 2, the control circuit 8 stores a correction coefficient corresponding to each vehicle type or each acceleration method, and a fuel consumption information storage unit corresponding to the correction coefficient of the corresponding vehicle type or acceleration method. The fuel consumption information stored in 12 is increased or decreased. The correction coefficient for this vehicle type is determined, for example, by examining the fuel consumption of a plurality of vehicles, and the correction coefficient for the acceleration method is determined by investigating the fuel consumption when the acceleration method is changed for the same vehicle.

  Note that the fuel efficiency information corresponding to the correction coefficient value 0 shown in FIG. 2 is fuel efficiency information (default) stored in the fuel efficiency information storage unit 12, and as described above, in this embodiment, the exhaust amount is The default is fuel consumption information for a 2000cc 5-number car and a normal acceleration method. Further, a positive correction coefficient indicates that the fuel consumption is better than the default, and conversely, a negative correction coefficient indicates that the fuel consumption is worse than the default. As shown in the figure, the correction coefficient corresponding to the vehicle type is subdivided into “large classification”, “number”, and “engine displacement”, and the sum of the respective correction coefficients becomes the correction coefficient of the vehicle type. When vehicle type information or acceleration information is not stored in the fuel consumption information storage unit 12, the correction coefficient is set to zero. That is, when “3-number ordinary car” is stored as the vehicle type information in the vehicle type information / acceleration information storage unit 13, a correction coefficient (default) of 0 is used for the engine displacement.

  In step S40, the minimum fuel consumption route to the destination is searched. Specifically, the traveling state when the vehicle travels is predicted while considering the road information attached to each link and node of the map data input from the map data input device 6. For example, when the road corresponding to the link is a road with a speed limit of 60 km, when driving on the road, it is predicted that the road is in a constant speed driving state of 60 km. At this time, the traffic width information input from the road width and the VICS information receiver 14 is also taken into consideration. For nodes corresponding to traffic lights and railroad crossings, the vehicle is predicted to stop at that point with a predetermined probability.

  Thus, after predicting the running state of the vehicle when traveling on the road corresponding to each link and node, consumption when traveling to each link and node based on the default fuel consumption information or the corrected fuel consumption information Costs equivalent to fuel will be given. For example, for a link predicted to be in a constant speed traveling state of 60 km, a cost is given using fuel consumption corresponding to constant speed traveling of 60 km. Thereafter, for an arbitrary route from the current location to the destination, a route that minimizes the added value of the cost of each link and each node constituting each route is searched using a route search method such as the Dijkstra method. In step S50, the search result is displayed on the display device 10 as shown in FIG. At this time, the distance to the destination of the candidate route and the required time are also displayed. Accordingly, the driver can determine the guide route in consideration of the distance, the fuel consumption amount, and the required time.

  As described above, in the present embodiment, vehicle type information and acceleration information can be stored in the in-vehicle navigation device 100. And based on these information, since the route of the minimum fuel consumption is searched using the corrected fuel consumption information, the acceleration method for each vehicle type or driver can be reflected. In addition, the driver can easily input the vehicle type information and the acceleration information, and it is not necessary to input detailed fuel consumption information.

  In addition, this invention is not necessarily limited to the said embodiment, A various deformation | transformation can be used. For example, as the vehicle type information, in addition to the information described above, for example, the type of gasoline such as the weight of the vehicle, the load capacity, the regular, and the high-octane may be considered. In this case, it is necessary to prepare a correction coefficient corresponding to each. Moreover, you may enable it to specify vehicle type information by inputting the name, grade, etc. of a vehicle. In addition, vehicle type information may be automatically obtained by road-to-vehicle communication.

  Further, as the acceleration information, for example, when the acceleration type of the user is not known, the determination may be made based on the seat angle, for example. In other words, when the seat angle is set abruptly, there are generally many people with a rapid acceleration type, and conversely, when the seat angle is set gently, there are many people with a slow acceleration type. Therefore, the traveling type is determined according to the seat angle. Further, acceleration information may be automatically collected according to the degree of change in vehicle acceleration using a G sensor that detects vehicle acceleration. Further, acceleration information may be collected from the degree of depression of the accelerator and the brake pedal, the fuel injection amount of the engine ECU, and the tightening force of the seat belt. In addition, a questionnaire about a predetermined item may be given to the driver, and the driving type of the driver may be determined based on the questionnaire result.

  Also, when conducting a route search, the vehicle's driving state is predicted by whether it is a gravel road, an asphalt road, the current road surface such as whether the road surface is wet, snowy, or frozen. You may consider a state etc. This is because depending on the road surface state, the number of times the brake is stepped on and the running state such as the vehicle speed change. In this case, for example, it is determined whether the road surface is wet with rain by a rain sensor that detects rain, or whether a road is frozen by a thermometer. In addition, the driver may be able to input such information.

(Modification)
In the above embodiment, items to be considered when a cost is given to each link and node are determined in advance. However, even if a route with the lowest fuel consumption is searched in consideration of all of the vehicle type information, the driver's driving habits, the type of road, etc., it may differ from the actual one. This is because even if the fuel consumption is predicted mathematically, the fuel consumption actually varies depending on various other factors. In this case, when a cost corresponding to the consumed fuel is given, it may happen that the cost is not taken into consideration and the actual consumed fuel is matched. For example, since there is a traffic light that is a blinking signal when traveling at midnight, the number of stops by the traffic signal is reduced compared to during daytime traveling. In this case, it may be more appropriate to give a cost corresponding to the consumed fuel without considering the presence or absence of a traffic light.

  Because of this, it may be possible to select items to be considered when assigning costs. For example, as shown in FIG. 4, each item is displayed in a list, and only items checked by the driver are taken into consideration when giving a cost. As a result, it is possible to more accurately search for the route with the minimum fuel consumption. Also, a plurality of large items may be prepared in which items that are considered to be optimal for each situation, such as for daytime driving and nighttime driving, are selected in advance. Thereby, it is possible to easily set items to be considered when giving a cost.

It is a block diagram which shows the whole structure of the vehicle-mounted navigation apparatus 100 of this embodiment. It is the figure which showed an example of the relationship between a vehicle type (the figure (a)), the acceleration method (the figure (b), and the correction coefficient for correct | amending fuel consumption information. It is the figure which showed the fuel consumption at the time of drive | working the candidate path | route to each destination and each path | route. It is the figure which showed the list | wrist of the item considered for the cost provision equivalent to the fuel consumption at the time of driving | running | working. It is a flowchart which shows the process which the control circuit 8 searches for the path | route of the minimum fuel consumption to the destination.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 Vehicle-mounted navigation apparatus 1 Position detector 6 Map data input device 7 Operation switch group 8 Control circuit 9 External memory 10 Display apparatus 11 Voice output device 12 Fuel consumption information storage part 13 Vehicle type information / acceleration information storage part 14 VICS information receiver

Claims (7)

Map data storage means for storing map data indicating roads by a plurality of links and nodes connecting them, each link and node having information relating to the corresponding road,
Fuel consumption information storage means for storing fuel consumption information according to the driving state of a general vehicle;
An acquisition means for acquiring at least one of vehicle type information and information on acceleration at the time of vehicle acceleration for each driver;
A setting means for setting a starting point and a destination,
Correction means for correcting the fuel consumption information stored by the fuel consumption information storage means based on the information acquired by the acquisition means;
Using the fuel efficiency information after correction and information about roads attached to each link and node, a cost corresponding to fuel consumption when traveling to each link and node is given, and set by the setting means A route search apparatus comprising: search means for searching for a route having a minimum added value of the cost given to the link and the node among routes from the starting point to the destination. An acceleration detection means for detecting the acceleration of the vehicle;
The route search apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the acquisition unit acquires the acceleration of the vehicle detected by the acceleration detection unit as information on acceleration at the time of vehicle acceleration for each driver.   The acquisition means divides a plurality of driving types of the driver related to acceleration at the time of vehicle acceleration, and causes the driver to select one of the classified driving types, thereby accelerating the vehicle for each driver. The route search device according to claim 1, wherein information on the degree is acquired.   The acquisition means divides a plurality of driving types of the driver regarding acceleration at the time of vehicle acceleration, and asks the driver about a predetermined item, and which driving type the driver belongs to among the classified driving types The route search device according to claim 1, wherein the information on the degree of acceleration at the time of vehicle acceleration for each driver is acquired. It has road surface information acquisition means for acquiring information on the road surface of the current road,
The said search means considers the information regarding the road surface of the present road which the said road surface information acquisition means acquired, when giving the cost equivalent to the fuel consumption at the time of drive | working to each said link and a node, It is characterized by the above-mentioned. Item 5. The route search device according to any one of Items 1 to 4. An item setting means for setting items to be considered when the search means assigns a cost corresponding to fuel consumption to each link and node;
The correction unit corrects the fuel consumption information stored by the fuel consumption information storage unit based on information corresponding to the item set by the item setting unit among the information acquired by the acquisition unit,
When the search means gives a cost corresponding to fuel consumed when traveling to each link and node, the item setting means sets the information about the road attached to each link and node. 6. The route search apparatus according to claim 1, wherein information corresponding to the item is used.   The item setting means prepares a plurality of states in which items to be considered when giving a cost corresponding to the consumed fuel are previously selected, and allows the driver to select one of the states. The route search device according to claim 6, characterized in that:

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