JP2006313085A - Navigation system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To automatically display a route guidance screen when route guidance is required and automatically display no route guidance screen when route guidance is not required. <P>SOLUTION: It is determined on the basis of the number of times of the past passage of one's own vehicle through the road that the own vehicle is traveling whether the road that the own vehicle is traveling is an unfamiliar road or not (S202). Control is performed in such a way as to perform route guidance in the case that it is determined that the road that the own vehicle is traveling is an unfamiliar road (S300) and not to perform route guidance in the case that it is determined that the road that the own vehicle is traveling is not an unfamiliar road (S302). <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a navigation device that provides route guidance to a destination.

  Conventionally, when a destination is set by a user's operation, a navigation device sets a guide route to the destination, and displays the set guide route and the vehicle position mark on a map to guide the route. It has a function.

  Such a route guidance screen display is necessary when the frequency of use of the road during travel is low, but is often unnecessary when the frequency of use of the road during travel is high.

The navigation device has a map display function that calculates the vehicle position that changes as the vehicle travels, and displays the travel locus of the vehicle along with the vehicle position mark on the map of the display screen. As a device for displaying such a travel locus, when the user is instructed to interrupt the travel locus display by operating the keyboard interrupt key, the travel locus is displayed on the display screen while calculating the travel position of the host vehicle. There is a fixed display, and when the user cancels the suspension of the travel locus display by operating the trace key on the keyboard, the display of the travel locus of the host vehicle is resumed from the current travel position (see, for example, Patent Document 1). .
Sho 58-70123

  However, since the device described in Patent Document 1 displays a travel locus display screen regardless of the frequency of use of the road during travel, the travel locus can be used even when traveling on an unfamiliar route or a familiar route. The display screen is displayed.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to automatically display a route guidance screen when route guidance is necessary and not to automatically display a route guidance screen when route guidance is unnecessary. .

  In order to achieve the above object, according to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided first determination means for determining whether or not the traveling road is an unfamiliar road on the basis of the frequency of use of the traveling road. The control means performs route guidance when the traveling road is determined to be an unfamiliar road by the first determining means, and when the traveling road is determined not to be an unfamiliar road by the first determining means, Control not to perform route guidance.

  According to the present invention, route guidance is performed when traveling on an unfamiliar road, and route guidance is not performed when traveling on an unfamiliar route. Therefore, a route guidance screen is automatically displayed when route guidance is required. Can be displayed so that the route guidance screen is not automatically displayed when route guidance is unnecessary.

  In addition, the determination as to whether or not the traveling road is an unfamiliar road based on the usage frequency of the traveling road is based on the past number of times the vehicle on the traveling road is past. And can be performed based on whether the traveling road is a detour route as in the invention described in claim 6.

  Further, in the invention according to claim 3, it is determined whether the surroundings of the own vehicle are bright or dark, and based on the past number of daytime traffic of the own vehicle on the running road when it is determined that the surroundings of the own vehicle are bright. Determining whether or not the traveling road is an unfamiliar road, and if it is determined that the area around the vehicle is dark, the traveling road is based on the number of past night traffic of the vehicle on the traveling road. It is determined whether or not the road is an unfamiliar road.

  When driving a vehicle, the appearance of the surroundings differs greatly depending on whether the surroundings of the vehicle are bright or dark, but if it is determined that the surroundings of the vehicle are bright in this way, When it is determined that the surroundings of the vehicle are dark, it is determined whether the running road is an unfamiliar road based on the number of past night traffic. The guidance screen can be displayed and interrupted.

  Further, whether the surroundings of the vehicle is bright or dark can be determined by determining whether it is daytime or nighttime based on the sunrise time and sunset time, as in the invention according to claim 4. As in the described invention, the determination can be made based on whether or not the illumination lamp that illuminates the front of the vehicle is on.

(First embodiment)
FIG. 1 shows the configuration of the navigation device according to the first embodiment of the present invention. As shown in the figure, the navigation device 1 includes a position detector 11, a map data input device 16, an operation switch group 17, an external memory 19, a display device 20, a voice output device 21, a remote control sensor 22, and a control connected thereto. A circuit 18 is provided.

  The position detector 11 includes a geomagnetic sensor 12, a gyroscope 13, a distance sensor 14, and a GPS receiver 15, and information for specifying the current position and direction of the vehicle based on the properties of each of these sensors. Output to the control circuit 18.

  The map data input device 16 is a device for inputting various map data including so-called map matching data, various facility icons, and a map for improving the position detection accuracy. As a storage medium for storing the map data input from the map data input device 16, a CD-ROM, DVD, hard disk drive or the like is generally used based on the amount of data, but other media such as a memory card are used. May be used.

  The operation switch group 17 includes input devices such as a plurality of push button switches (mechanical switches) provided around the display screen of the display device 20 and a touch panel provided so as to overlap the display screen. A signal based on the depression of the touch panel and the touch on the touch panel is output to the control circuit 18.

  The external memory 19 is a storage unit provided separately from the inside of the control circuit 18 and is configured by a non-volatile storage medium, and stores various data, programs, and the like. The data stored in the external memory 19 includes travel locus accumulation data in which past travel locus of the own vehicle is accumulated.

  The display device 20 has a display screen such as a liquid crystal display, and displays the video on a display screen such as a liquid crystal display in accordance with a video signal from the control circuit 18.

  The audio output device 21 includes a speaker, and causes the speaker to output the sound in accordance with an audio signal from the control circuit 18.

  The remote control sensor 22 outputs to the control circuit 18 a signal received from the remote control 23 that transmits a radio signal using infrared rays or the like based on a user operation.

  The control circuit 18 is configured as a computer, and includes a CPU, a ROM, a RAM, an I / O, and a bus line for connecting these configurations. The control circuit 18 exchanges various signals with the map data input device 16, the operation switch group 17, the external memory 19, the display device 20, the audio output device 21, and the remote control sensor 22, and executes various processes.

  The processing of the control circuit 18 includes own vehicle position calculation processing, travel locus storage processing, and the like.

  The own vehicle position calculation process is a process of periodically calculating the own vehicle position and orientation based on a signal from the position detector 11 using a technique such as map matching.

  The traveling locus storage processing is processing for storing the traveling locus of the host vehicle in the external memory 19 as traveling locus accumulation data. As shown in FIG. 2, the travel locus is stored as information including travel coordinates (Xn, Yn), link number (Ln), and storage date / time. In the external memory 19, such travel locus is stored as travel locus accumulation data.

  Next, the general operation of the navigation device 1 will be described. The navigation device 1 starts to operate when power is supplied from the battery via the ignition switch, and the control circuit 18 reads out the program stored in the external memory 19 and executes various processes for navigation, and displays it. An image in which the vehicle position mark is superimposed on a map around the vehicle position is displayed on the display screen of the device 20.

  The control circuit 18 in the present embodiment determines whether or not the traveling road is an unfamiliar route based on the number of times the vehicle on the traveling road is past, and the route guidance screen is displayed according to the determination result. Switching between display and interruption is performed automatically.

  Hereinafter, the route guidance processing by the control circuit 18 will be described with reference to FIG. Note that the control circuit 18 executes the process shown in FIG. 3 in parallel with the various processes for navigation described above.

  First, the destination is set. Specifically, the input of the destination by the user is received from the operation switch group 17 or the remote control sensor 22, and is stored in the memory as the destination (S100).

  Next, calculation for route guidance is performed. Specifically, the vehicle position calculated by the vehicle position calculation process is acquired and map data is read from the map data input device 16 to search for a guide route from the vehicle position to the destination stored in the memory. In addition to generating guidance image data in which the searched guidance route and own vehicle position mark are superimposed on the map, guidance voice for instructing a right turn, a left turn, etc. when necessary such as when the host vehicle arrives before the guidance intersection Data is generated (S102).

  Next, the number of past passes of the vehicle on the running road is acquired from the running locus accumulated data in the external memory 16. Specifically, the link number of the road being traveled is specified from the vehicle position and the map data, and the past travel locus of the vehicle including the identified link number of the road being traveled is read from the travel locus accumulated data. The number of past passes of the vehicle is obtained (S104).

  Next, it is determined whether or not the traveling road is an unfamiliar road based on whether or not the past number of times the vehicle on the traveling road is less than the reference number.

  Here, if the number of past traffic of the vehicle on the running road is less than the reference number (for example, 5 times), the running road is determined as an unfamiliar road (YES in S202), and then Provides route guidance screen display and voice guidance. Specifically, the guidance image data generated in S102 is output to the display device 20 to display a route guidance screen on the display device 20, and the voice guidance data generated in S102 is output as a voice when necessary such as turning right or left. It outputs to the apparatus 21 and carries out voice guidance from the voice output apparatus 21 (S300).

  In S202, when the past number of times the vehicle on the running road is more than the reference number (for example, 5 times), it is determined that the running road is not an unfamiliar road (determined as NO in S202), Next, control is performed so that route guidance is not performed. Specifically, the output of the guidance image data generated in S102 to the display device 20 is stopped and the guidance voice data is not output to the voice output device 21, so that route guidance is not performed (S302). Note that, by stopping the output of the guide image data to the display device 20, the display screen of the display device 20 becomes a black screen on which nothing is displayed.

  Next, in S400, it is determined whether or not to end the route guidance based on whether or not the own vehicle has arrived at the destination. Specifically, the distance between the vehicle position and the point set as the destination is calculated, and if the distance is equal to or greater than a predetermined distance, the process returns to S102 as the vehicle has not arrived at the destination, The process is repeated, and if the distance between the vehicle position and the point set as the destination is less than the predetermined distance, it is determined that the route guidance is to be terminated as the vehicle has arrived at the destination, and the present process is terminated.

  Therefore, when the vehicle position exists on a road where the vehicle has traveled more than a reference number of times (for example, 5 times) in the past, it is determined that the road being traveled is not an unfamiliar road, and the determination in S202 is NO The route guidance is not performed.

  In addition, when the number of times the vehicle has passed in the past is less than the reference number, it is determined that the traveling road is an unfamiliar road, the determination in S202 is YES, and route guidance is resumed.

  Further, when the number of times the vehicle has passed in the past reaches the reference number of times or more, it is determined that the traveling road is not an unfamiliar road, the determination in S202 is NO, and the route guidance is interrupted (S302). ).

  Then, when the own vehicle arrives at the destination, the determination in S400 is YES, and this process is terminated.

  According to the above embodiment, the number of past traffic of the vehicle on the traveling road is acquired (S200), and the traveling road is an unfamiliar road based on the past number of traffic of the own vehicle on the traveling road. (S202), if it is determined that the traveling road is an unfamiliar road (YES in S202), route guidance is performed (S300), and it is determined that the traveling road is not an unfamiliar road ( If NO is determined in S202), route guidance is not performed (S302).

  Therefore, route guidance is performed when traveling on an unfamiliar road, and route guidance is not performed when traveling on an unfamiliar route, so a route guidance screen is automatically displayed when route guidance is required, It is possible to prevent the route guidance screen from being automatically displayed when route guidance is unnecessary.

(Second Embodiment)
In the navigation device according to the present embodiment, a detection circuit that detects whether an illumination lamp that illuminates the front of the vehicle, such as a headlamp, a vehicle width lamp, and a fog lamp, is turned on or off with respect to the configuration shown in FIG. (Not shown). Information detected by the detection circuit is input to the control circuit 18.

  In addition, the control circuit 18 in this embodiment has a calendar function that manages year, month, day, and current time using calendar data stored in the ROM and a timer that measures real time. The calendar data includes daily sunrise time and sunset time as well as information on year, month, day, etc., and the control circuit 18 determines whether it is daytime or nighttime from the sunrise time, sunset time and current time. Judgment is also made.

  The control circuit 18 according to the first embodiment determines whether the traveling road is an unfamiliar road based on whether the number of past traveling of the vehicle on the traveling road is less than the reference number regardless of day or night. However, when driving, the way the surroundings look is greatly different between daytime and nighttime. Therefore, the control circuit 18 according to the present embodiment determines whether it is daytime or nighttime using a calendar function, and determines whether the road is an unfamiliar road during the daytime time zone or during the night time zone. This is done separately when traveling.

  Next, a route guidance process of the control circuit 18 in the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. In addition, the same code | symbol is attached | subjected to the part same as the process in 1st Embodiment shown in FIG. 3, description is abbreviate | omitted and it demonstrates centering on a different part.

  After setting the destination (S100) and calculating the route guidance (S102), the calendar function is used to determine whether it is daytime or nighttime. Specifically, the current day's sunrise time and sunset time are read from the calendar data, and if the current time is between the sunrise time and sunset time, it is determined to be daytime, and the current time is between the sunset time and sunrise time. In this case, it is determined that it is night (S210).

  Here, when it is determined that it is nighttime, next, the number of past nighttime traffic of the vehicle on the road on which it is traveling is acquired from the traveling locus accumulated data. Specifically, the link number of the running road is specified from the own vehicle position and the map data, and the past night driving locus of the own vehicle including the identified road link number from the running locus accumulated data is determined. This is read to determine the number of past night traffic of the vehicle (S218).

  Next, it is determined whether the traveling road is an unfamiliar road based on whether or not the number of past night traffic of the vehicle on the traveling road is less than a reference number (for example, less than 7 times) (S220).

  If it is determined that the traveling road is an unfamiliar road (YES in S220), the process proceeds to S300, a route guidance screen is displayed, and it is determined that the traveling road is not an unfamiliar road (in S220). If NO is determined, the process proceeds to S302 to interrupt the route guidance screen display.

  If it is determined in S210 that it is daytime, then the headlamp, the vehicle width lamp, and the fog lamp are detected based on a signal from a detection circuit that detects whether the headlamp, the vehicle width lamp, and the fog lamp are turned on or off. It is determined whether at least one of the lamps is lit (S212).

  Here, when it is determined that all of the headlamp, the vehicle width lamp, and the fog lamp are turned off, next, the past daytime passage number of the vehicle on the running road is acquired from the running locus accumulated data. Specifically, the link number of the running road is identified from the own vehicle position and map data, and the past daytime running trajectory of the own vehicle including the identified road link number of the running road is obtained from the running trace accumulated data. This is read to determine the number of past daytime traffic of the vehicle (S214).

  Next, it is determined whether the traveling road is an unfamiliar road based on whether or not the number of past night traffic of the vehicle on the traveling road is less than a reference number (for example, less than 3 times) (S216).

  If it is determined that the traveling road is an unfamiliar road (YES in S216), the process proceeds to S300, a route guidance screen is displayed, and it is determined that the traveling road is not an unfamiliar road (in S216). If NO is determined, the process proceeds to S302, and the route guidance screen display on the display device 20 is interrupted.

  In S212, when it is determined that at least one of the headlamp, the vehicle width lamp, and the fog lamp is turned on, the determination in S212 is YES and the process proceeds to S218. As described above, when at least one of the headlamp, the vehicle width lamp, and the fog lamp is lit, it is estimated that the periphery of the vehicle is dark due to cloudiness, rain, fog, etc. The process proceeds to S218 as in the case where it is determined that the night.

  Therefore, when traveling at night, if the position of the vehicle is on a road where the number of times the vehicle has passed in the past at a reference number (for example, 7 times) or more, it is determined that the traveling road is not an unfamiliar road. The determination in S220 is NO and route guidance is not performed (S302).

  And if the number of times the vehicle has traveled in the past at night is less than the reference number (for example, 7 times), the road that is running is determined to be an unfamiliar road, the determination in S220 is YES, and the route guidance is The process is resumed (S300). Furthermore, if the number of times of passing of the vehicle in the past reaches the reference number (for example, 7 times) or more again, it is determined that the running road is not an unfamiliar road, and the determination in S220 is NO. The route guidance is interrupted (S302).

  Even during daytime running, if at least one of the headlamp, the vehicle width lamp, and the fog lamp is lit, it is determined YES in S212, and the same operation as during nighttime running is performed.

  In addition, when the vehicle is in the daytime and the vehicle position is on a road where the number of past daytime traffic of the vehicle is a reference number (for example, 3 times) or more, it is determined that the traveling road is not an unfamiliar road. The determination in S216 is NO and route guidance is not performed (S302).

  And if the number of past daytime passages of the vehicle reaches a road that is less than the reference number (for example, 3 times), the traveling road is determined to be an unfamiliar road, the determination of S216 is YES, and the route guidance is The process is resumed (S300).

  Furthermore, when the number of times of passage of the vehicle in the past in the past reaches a reference number (for example, 3 times) or more again, it is determined that the traveling road is not an unfamiliar road, and the determination in S216 is NO, The route guidance is interrupted (S302).

  According to the above embodiment, it is determined whether it is daytime or nighttime (S210), and if it is determined that it is daytime, the number of past daytime traffic of the vehicle on the running road is the first reference number (for example, If it is determined that the running road is an unfamiliar road based on whether it is less than three times or not, the number of past night traffic of the vehicle on the running road Whether or not the traveling road is an unfamiliar road is determined based on whether or not it is less than 2 reference times (for example, 7 times).

  In this way, it is determined whether it is an unfamiliar road when driving during the daytime and when driving at nighttime, and the route guidance screen display is automatically interrupted and resumed. It can be carried out.

(Third embodiment)
The navigation device 1 according to the present embodiment is for further transmitting and receiving data to and from the navigation device 1 shown in FIG. 1, and accident information by VICS (Vehicle Information and Communication System). A communication interface (not shown) for receiving traffic jam information is provided.

  The control circuit 18 in the present embodiment has a route re-search function that automatically re-searches a detour route to the destination when the traffic jam information is received via the communication interface. When the vehicle is re-searched and the vehicle approaches a detour route, route guidance is performed according to the de-route route searched again.

  Thus, when a detour route is re-searched by the route re-search function, the detour route to be re-searched is likely to be an unfamiliar road with low usage frequency. Therefore, the control circuit 18 determines whether the traveling road is less frequently used based on whether the traveling road is a bypass route re-searched by the bypass route re-search function. If the middle road is a detour route, the running road is determined to be an unfamiliar route.

  Therefore, when the host vehicle travels on the detour route, a route guidance screen can be displayed on the display device 20.

(Other embodiments)
In the above embodiment, in the process of S302, the output of the guide image data to the display device 20 is stopped so that the route guidance is not performed, the screen of the display device 20 is hidden, and the screen of the display device 20 is nothing. Although an example of a black screen that is not displayed has been shown, this screen is an example, and image data other than the guide image data is output to the display device 20 so that, for example, the display device 20 becomes a blue screen on which nothing is displayed. Display a message on the display device 20 that the guidance display is suspended, display a current position display screen with the current position mark superimposed on the map, or display other screens preset by the user You may let them.

  In the above embodiment, in the process of S302, the output of the guidance image data to the display device 20 is stopped and the guidance voice data is not output to the voice output device 21 so that the route guidance is not performed. Although shown, it is possible not to display only the route guidance on the display device 20.

  In the third embodiment, accident information and traffic jam information by VICS are received via a communication interface, and a detour route is automatically re-searched in response to the reception of the accident information and traffic jam information, and a road that is running is detoured In the case where it is determined that the route is a route, an example is shown in which the traveling road is determined to be an unfamiliar road, but the latest map data is acquired from the information center connected via the wireless communication line using the communication interface. If the map data is updated and it is determined that the running road is a newly established road, the running road may be determined as an unfamiliar road.

  In the above embodiment, an example is shown in which it is determined whether or not the traveling road is an unfamiliar road based on the past traveling count of the traveling road, but a predetermined period (for example, five years) has elapsed. The past travel locus may be excluded from the past number of travels, and it may be determined whether or not the traveling road is an unfamiliar road.

  The correspondence between the configuration of the above embodiment and the configuration of the claims will be described. The processing of S202, S216, and S220 corresponds to the first determination unit, and the processing of S300 corresponds to the route guidance display unit. , S302 corresponds to route guidance display interruption means, S210, S212 processing corresponds to second determination means, S210 processing corresponds to third determination means, and S212 processing corresponds to fourth determination. The means to acquire accident information and traffic jam information via the communication interface corresponds to the information acquisition means, and the process of re-searching the detour route to the destination according to the acquisition of traffic jam information is the detour route re-search Corresponds to means.

It is a figure which shows the structure of the navigation apparatus which concerns on 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is explanatory drawing of driving | running | working locus integration data. It is a figure which shows the route guidance process by the control circuit of the navigation apparatus which concerns on 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the route guidance process by the control circuit of the navigation apparatus which concerns on 2nd Embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Navigation apparatus, 11 ... Position detector, 12 ... Geomagnetic sensor,
13 ... Gyroscope, 14 ... Distance sensor, 15 ... GPS receiver,
16 ... Map data input device, 17 ... Operation switch group, 18 ... Control circuit, 19 ... External memory,
20 ... display device, 21 ... audio output device, 22 ... remote control sensor, 23 ... remote control.

Claims (6)

Route guidance means for performing route guidance to the destination;
First determination means for determining whether or not the traveling road is an unfamiliar road based on the usage frequency of the traveling road;
When the first determination means determines that the traveling road is an unfamiliar road, the route guidance means performs route guidance, and the first determination means determines that the traveling road is not an unfamiliar road. A navigation apparatus comprising: route guidance control means for controlling so as not to perform route guidance by the route guidance means when determined. Comprising a number of times of traffic acquisition means for acquiring the number of past traffic of the vehicle on the running road,
The first determining means determines whether or not the traveling road is an unfamiliar road based on the past number of times the own vehicle of the traveling road acquired by the traffic number acquiring means. The navigation device according to claim 1, wherein A second judging means for judging whether the vicinity of the vehicle is bright or dark,
In the case where the first determination means determines that the vicinity of the own vehicle is bright by the second determination means, the number of past daytime traffic of the own vehicle on the traveling road is less than the first reference number. Whether or not the traveling road is an unfamiliar road, and if the surrounding area of the vehicle is determined to be dark by the second determination means, the past of the vehicle on the traveling road The navigation device according to claim 1, wherein it is determined whether the traveling road is an unfamiliar road based on whether the number of night traffic is less than the first reference number. The second determination means includes third determination means for determining whether it is daytime or nighttime based on the sunrise time and sunset time in order to determine whether the surroundings of the host vehicle are bright or dark. The navigation device according to claim 3. The second determination means includes fourth determination means for determining whether or not an illumination lamp that illuminates the front of the vehicle is lit in order to determine whether the surroundings of the host vehicle are bright or dark. The navigation device according to claim 3 or 4, characterized by the above. Information acquisition means for acquiring accident information and / or traffic jam information;
A detour route re-search means for re-searching a detour route to the destination according to the acquisition of the accident information and / or traffic jam information by the information acquisition means,
The first determination unit determines that the traveling road is an unfamiliar road when the traveling road is the bypass route re-searched by the bypass route re-search unit. Item 4. The navigation device according to Item 1.

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