JP2007010628A - Navigation system and navigation method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a navigation system and a navigation method capable of guiding a parking area easy to be parked, while taking a dimension data and a turning characteristic of one's own vehicle into consideration. <P>SOLUTION: This navigation system/navigation method is provided with a parking area information acquiring means for acquiring a vehicle-movable range of the parking area in a district planned to park the one's own vehicle, a vehicle information acquiring means for acquiring the dimension data of the one's own vehicle as vehicle information, a turning characteristic acquiring means for acquiring the turning characteristic of the one's own vehicle, a degree-of-parking-difficulty determining means for determining a degree of parking difficulty for parking the one's own vehicle in the parking area, based on the dimension data, the turning characteristic and the vehicle-movable range, and a parking area guide means for guiding the parking area easy to be parked, based on the degree of parking difficulty. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a navigation device and a navigation method for guiding a parking lot based on a parking difficulty level.

Conventionally, a parking lot is selected from the parking lots in the area where the vehicle is scheduled to be parked, taking into account the fare data of the parking lot, the distance from the vehicle, and the dimensional data such as the full width and height of the own vehicle. A navigation device is known (see, for example, Patent Document 1).
However, in Patent Document 1, even if the vehicle can enter the parking lot that matches the full width and height, when the vehicle is actually parked in the parking space or in the tower parking lot, the turntable is reached. You may have to turn your car over and over again as you pass through the path. Therefore, there is a possibility that a parking lot that is difficult to park only by the determination based on the dimension data of the vehicle is extracted.

JP 2001-349740 A

  The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a navigation device and a navigation method for guiding a parking lot in consideration of dimensional data and turning characteristics of the host vehicle.

  (1) A navigation device for achieving the above object includes a parking lot information acquisition means for acquiring a vehicle movable range of a parking lot in an area where the own vehicle is scheduled to be parked, and dimensional data of the own vehicle as a vehicle. Vehicle information acquisition means for acquiring information, turning characteristic acquisition means for acquiring the turning characteristic of the own vehicle, and parking the own vehicle in the parking lot based on the dimension data, the turning characteristic, and the movable range of the vehicle. A parking difficulty level determination unit that determines a parking difficulty level to be performed, and a parking lot guidance unit that guides the parking lot based on the parking difficulty level.

Here, the vehicle movable range represents a range in which the vehicle is allowed to move before entering the parking lot, parking, and exiting from the exit. Further, the parking lot is not limited to a flat ground type, a three-dimensional type, a tower type, or any other type of parking lot, but represents a parking lot in which a vehicle is parked in a predetermined parking space.
In addition to the static parking difficulty determined by the dimensional data of the vehicle, the navigation device uses a dynamic parking difficulty that considers the movement of the vehicle based on turning characteristics when parking the vehicle. Since the degree of parking difficulty of the own vehicle with respect to the vehicle is determined, the parking lot can be guided in consideration of the movement of the own vehicle based on the turning characteristics from the parking lot where the own vehicle can enter and exit.

(2) The parking difficulty determination means may determine the difficulty of getting on and off after parking based on the full width, the door width, and the parking width, and may include the difficulty of getting in and out of the parking difficulty. Good.
Even if the difference between the parking width and the full width of the host vehicle is the same, in the case of a car with a large door width, the opening angle of the door is smaller than that of a car with a small door width. Therefore, when the door width becomes large, it becomes difficult to get on and off the vehicle. Therefore, since the navigation device determines the parking difficulty level in consideration of the difficulty level of the parking operation of the own vehicle when parking and taking into consideration the difficulty level of getting on and off after parking, the parking lot is determined based on the total parking difficulty level. I can guide you.

(3) The turning characteristic acquisition unit may acquire an inner circumference locus and an outer circumference locus when the host vehicle turns as the turning characteristic.
When the vehicle turns, the vehicle moves within the range of the inner track and the outer track. Therefore, the navigation device acquires the inner track and the outer track as turning characteristics so that the vehicle can move from the range where the parking operation is possible. Can be reliably determined.

(4) The turning characteristic acquisition unit may define the inner track and the outer track from the minimum turning radius and the dimension data acquired by the vehicle information acquisition unit.
-28982? The minimum turning radius and dimension data of both can be easily input by the user from catalog data, for example. Therefore, the navigation device can define the inner and outer tracks of the own vehicle from the input minimum turning radius and dimension data regardless of the type of vehicle. Thereby, the versatility of the navigation apparatus which determines parking difficulty is improved.

(5) The parking difficulty level determination means calculates the number of turnovers required until the vehicle parks in the parking space of the parking lot based on the turning characteristics, and the parking difficulty level according to the number of turnovers. May be determined.
As the number of times of turn-back increases when the host vehicle turns and parks in the parking space, the parking operation becomes more complicated and the time required for parking becomes longer. Therefore, the navigation device can determine that parking is more difficult as the number of times of return calculated based on the turning characteristics is larger.

  (6) A navigation method for achieving the above object includes a parking lot information acquisition stage for acquiring a vehicle movable range of a parking lot in a region where the own vehicle is scheduled to be parked, and the dimensional data of the own vehicle. Based on the vehicle information acquisition stage acquired as information, the turning characteristic acquisition stage for acquiring the turning characteristic of the own vehicle, the dimension data, the turning characteristic, and the vehicle movable range, the own vehicle is parked in the parking lot. Why is the parking difficulty determination stage for determining the parking difficulty level to be performed, the parking lot guidance stage for guiding the parking lot based on the parking difficulty level, the matching means and the signal determination means? including.

  In addition to the static parking difficulty determined by the dimensional data of the vehicle, the navigation method uses a dynamic parking difficulty that takes into account the movement of the vehicle based on the turning characteristics when parking the vehicle. Since the degree of parking difficulty of the own vehicle with respect to the vehicle is determined, the parking lot can be guided in consideration of the movement of the own vehicle based on the turning characteristics from the parking lot where the own vehicle can enter and exit.

  The functions of the plurality of means provided in the present invention are realized by hardware resources whose functions are specified by the configuration itself, hardware resources whose functions are specified by a program, or a combination thereof. Further, the functions of the plurality of means are not limited to those realized by hardware resources that are physically independent of each other. Further, the order of each operation of the method described in the claims is not limited to the order of description unless there is a technical impediment, and may be executed in any order, and may be executed simultaneously. Also good.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a hardware configuration of a navigation apparatus 20 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The navigation device 20 is mounted on a vehicle such as an automobile or a motorcycle. The navigation device 20 guides the recommended route to the destination point and the travel point of the host vehicle 100 (see FIG. 3). The interface 22 includes an AD converter, a DA converter, and the like. The interface 22 converts the signal form between the CPU 50 and each block in the navigation device 20 and the communication signal form with the parking lot information center 60 via the communication unit 24. Perform conversion.

The hard disk device (HDD) 30 stores a map database (map DB), a vehicle information database (vehicle information DB), and the like.
The direction sensor 32 includes a geomagnetic sensor, a left and right wheel speed difference sensor, a vibration gyro, a gas rate gyro, an optical fiber gyro, and the like used for dead reckoning navigation.

The GPS unit 34 receives an orbit data transmitted from three or four satellites used for satellite navigation, and outputs an latitude / longitude data of the current location of the host vehicle 100, an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit). Etc.
The vehicle speed sensor 36 that detects the traveling speed of the host vehicle 100 is also used as position detection means by dead reckoning navigation. The mileage can be obtained by integrating the vehicle speed with time. The travel distance may be obtained using a Doppler ground speed sensor using radio waves or ultrasonic waves, or a ground speed sensor using light and a spatial filter.

The operation unit 38 includes a remote controller used for inputting a destination, an operation panel, and the like. The destination may be inputted by voice with a microphone, and the inputted destination may be recognized by voice.
The display 40 as parking lot guidance means is configured by a liquid crystal display (LCD), a head up display (HUD), or the like used for a map or various warning displays. When searching for a parking lot, a parking lot in the planned parking area is displayed on the display 40. The warning display may be displayed on a display different from the display used for the map display, for example, a display for displaying the vehicle speed, distance, engine speed, and the like.

The speaker 42 is used for a sound output for notifying a travel route of the vehicle, a travel state guidance, and various warnings. The speaker 42 may be shared with the audio speaker, or a dedicated navigation device may be provided.
The CPU 50 controls each part in the navigation device 20 by executing the control program, and specifies the traveling road on which the host vehicle 100 is traveling.

  The RAM 52 temporarily stores data and programs processed by the CPU 50. The ROM 54 is a rewritable nonvolatile memory storing a control program executed by the CPU 50, and uses an EEPROM or the like. The control program may be stored in the HDD 30. The control program, the map DB, and the vehicle information DB can be stored in the HDD 30 or the ROM 54 by downloading from a predetermined server via a network, reading from a computer-readable storage medium such as a removable memory (not shown), and the like.

The parking lot information center 60 transmits the parking lot information of each area from the parking lot DB 66 to each vehicle via the communication unit 62. In this embodiment, when there is an inquiry from each vehicle, the parking lot information center 60 extracts the parking lot information of the area designated by each vehicle from the parking lot DB 66 by the data extraction unit 64 and transmits it to the requesting vehicle.
In the present embodiment, the parking lot information is acquired from the parking lot information center 60. However, like the map DB 70, the navigation device itself may include a parking lot information DB.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a software configuration of the control program of the navigation device 20.
The map DB 70 is a database composed of information obtained by digitally representing a map in a graph format, and is used for detecting the vehicle position and searching for and displaying a recommended route. In the map DB 70, intersections, turning points, dead ends, and the like are nodes, and roads are defined as links connecting nodes. In addition, distance, speed limit, number of lanes, width, corner radius, etc. are defined as attribute information for each link.

  The vehicle information DB 72 is vehicle information of the vehicle 100, for example, dimensional data of the vehicle 100 such as the total length L0, the total width W0, the total height H, the front overhang length L1, the wheel base L2, the rear overhang length L3, and the door width W1. , As well as the minimum turning radius and the like. The contents of the vehicle information DB 72 may be recorded in advance according to the vehicle type of the vehicle 100 when the vehicle 100 is purchased, or may be input by the user after purchasing the vehicle 100.

  The position detection module 80 is a program component that causes the CPU 50 to function as position detection means. The position detection module 80 receives the latitude / longitude data of the current location of the vehicle 100 input from the GPS unit 34 and the distance sensor using the vehicle speed sensor 36 and the like while performing correction by map matching using the map DB 70. The vehicle position is detected based on the travel distance and the traveling direction input from the direction sensor 32.

  The parking lot information acquisition module 82 is a program component that causes the CPU 50 to function as parking lot information acquisition means. When an area where the vehicle 100 is scheduled to be parked is input from the operation unit 38 and a search for a parking lot is requested, the parking lot information acquisition module 82 sends a request for searching for a parking lot in the planned parking area to the communication unit 24. To the parking lot information center 60. The parking lot information center 60 extracts the parking lot of the area requested by the data extraction unit 64 and transmits the parking lot information of the parking lot extracted via the communication unit 62 to the requesting vehicle. The parking lot information includes the width and height of the entrance / exit of the parking lot 120 (see FIG. 5), the passage width to the parking space 124, the parking width per parking space 124, and the like. The parking lot information acquisition module 82 calculates a parking operable range 122 when the host vehicle 100 is parked in the parking space 124 from the passage width and parking width of the parking lot 120. A parking operable range 122 indicated by hatching in FIG. 5 represents a range including the passage width of the parking lot 120 and the parking width of one parking space 124. Including parking range 120 that is calculated from the passage width and parking width of parking lot 120 and the width and height of the entrance and exit of parking lot 120, the vehicle enters from the entrance of parking lot 120 and parks. This is expressed as a vehicle movable range in which the host vehicle 100 can move before leaving the exit.

  The vehicle information acquisition module 84 shown in FIG. 2 is a program component that causes the CPU 50 to function as vehicle information acquisition means. The vehicle information acquisition module 84, when a parking lot search request is generated, the vehicle information of the own vehicle 100 necessary for determining the difficulty level when the own vehicle 100 is parked in the parking lot, that is, the above-described total length L0, full width. Dimension data such as W0, total height H, front overhang length L1, wheel base L2, rear overhang length L3, door width W1, and the like, and the minimum turning radius are read from the vehicle information DB 72 and acquired.

  The turning characteristic acquisition module 86 is a program component that causes the CPU 50 to function as turning characteristic acquisition means. Specifically, from the minimum turning radius and dimension data of the host vehicle 100 acquired by the vehicle information acquisition module 84, the outer track 110 and the inner track 112 when the host vehicle 100 turns as shown in FIG. 4 are calculated. To do. Further, the turning characteristics represented by the outer track 110 and the inner track 112 may be recorded in advance in the vehicle information DB 72 as the vehicle information of the host vehicle 100.

  The parking difficulty level determination module 88 is a program component that causes the CPU 50 to function as parking difficulty level determination means. First, the parking difficulty determination module 88 compares the width of the entrance / exit of the parking lot 120 and the total width W0 of the own vehicle 100, and the height of the entrance / exit of the parking lot 120 with the total height H of the own vehicle 100. It is determined whether the vehicle can enter and exit.

  Next, the parking difficulty level determination module 88 is configured such that when the host vehicle 100 moves to the parking space 124 while turning in the parking lot 120 where entry / exit is possible, as shown in FIG. Is out of the parking operation possible range 122 of the parking lot 120, the own vehicle 100 collides with a surrounding car, a pillar, a wall, or the like, so that it is determined that the own vehicle 100 needs to be turned over. Then, the parking difficulty determination module 88 counts the number of times the host vehicle 100 is turned back until the parking space 124 can be parked. The parking difficulty level determination module 88 sets the parking difficulty level as a score S1 shown in FIG. 7A from the number of times of turnover until the parking space 124 is parked. S1 is a maximum of 10 points, and the higher the score, the fewer the number of turnovers when moving to the parking space 124, and the easier parking. For example, if the host vehicle 100 can be moved to the parking space 124 without turning back, the maximum score is 10.

Further, the parking difficulty determination module 88 calculates the opening angle of the door 102 from the full width W0 of the own vehicle 100, the door width W1 of the own vehicle 100, and the parking width of the parking space 124, as shown in FIG. The greater the opening angle of the door 102, the easier it is to get on and off. The parking difficulty determination module 88 sets the boarding difficulty included in the parking difficulty as a score S2 shown in FIG. The higher the score, the larger the opening angle of the door 102. For example, if the door 102 can be opened to the maximum angle, the maximum score is 10.
Further, the parking difficulty level determination module 88 may subtract the score S1 as compared with the ordinary vehicle or the front parking because the parking difficulty is high when the rear parking is performed in a vehicle having a poor rear view.

  Basically, the parking difficulty determination module 88 determines that parking is easier in a parking lot with a higher total score represented by (S1 + S2). When the total score is the same, it is determined that parking is easier in a parking lot with a smaller number of turn-backs and a higher score S1. (B) of FIG. 7 rearranges the parking lots in the order of easy parking based on the parking difficulty level. As shown in FIG. 7B, the total number of points represented by (S1 + S2) in the parking lot P1 and the parking lot P5 is 8 points, but the parking lot P1 has a higher score S1 than the parking lot P5. Therefore, it is determined that parking is easy.

However, if either the score S1 or the score S2 is a predetermined score or less, for example, 2 or less, it is determined that parking is difficult even if the total score is higher than other parking lots. As shown in FIG. 7B, the total score of the parking lot P4 is higher than that of the parking lots P1 and P5, but since the score S1 is 1, it is determined that parking is the most difficult.
The parking lot guidance module 90 is a program component that causes the CPU 50 to function as parking lot guidance means. The parking lot guidance module 90 guides the display 40 to a parking lot that is easy to park based on the parking difficulty level determined by the parking difficulty level determination module 88. For example, the score is displayed on the parking lot displayed on the display 40 according to the difficulty level.

Next, the operation of the navigation device will be described.
FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the flow of the parking lot guidance program of the navigation device 20. The processing shown in FIG. 8 is executed when the operation unit 38 receives a parking lot search request in the planned parking area.
In step 200, the navigation apparatus 20 receives a parking lot search request from the operation unit 38 by a user operation. At this time, the navigation device 20 receives an area for searching for a parking lot as, for example, the vicinity of the current position of the host vehicle 100. Further, the user may input a desired arrival time from the current position of the host vehicle 100 to the parking lot from the operation unit 38. The navigation device 20 may receive the place name of the destination point as the search area for the parking lot.

  In step 202, the navigation apparatus 20 determines whether communication with the parking lot information center 60 is possible. For example, when there is no parking lot information center 60 within the communicable range and there is no response from the parking lot information center 60 to the search request from the own vehicle 100, it is determined that communication is impossible and this processing is terminated.

  If there is a response from the parking lot information center 60, the navigation device 20 transmits the vehicle position to the parking lot information center 60 in step 204. The parking lot information center 60 extracts the surrounding parking lot from the transmitted vehicle position. The navigation device 20 acquires the parking lot information around the vehicle position extracted from the parking lot information center 60.

In step 206, the navigation device 20 determines from the vehicle information DB 72 that the minimum turning radius, the total length L0, the total width W0, the total height H, the front overhang length L1, the wheel base L2, the rear overhang length L3, and the door width W1. The vehicle information such as is read out.
In step 208, the navigation device 20 compares the height and width of the entrance / exit of each parking lot acquired from the parking lot information center 60 with the total height H and the total width W0 of the own vehicle 100, and the parking device in which the own vehicle 100 can enter. Select a parking lot.

Furthermore, in step 210, the navigation device 20 determines whether there is a parking lot that satisfies the desired arrival time from the position of the vehicle in the accessible parking lot. This process is complete | finished when there is no parking lot which satisfy | fills desired arrival time.
If the desired parking lot is found, in step 212, the navigation device 20 calculates the parking operable range 122 for each desired parking lot from the passage width of the parking lot 120, the parking width of the parking space 124, and the like.

In step 214, the navigation device 20 calculates an outer circumference trajectory 110 and an inner circumference trajectory 112, which are turning characteristics when the host vehicle 100 turns, from the vehicle information of the host vehicle 100 read from the vehicle information DB 72.
In step 216, the navigation device 20 calculates the number of turnovers when moving the vehicle 100 to the parking space 124 based on the parking operation possible range 122 of the parking lot 120 and the turning characteristics of the vehicle 100, and according to the number of turnovers. The above-mentioned score S1 is set.

In step 218, the navigation device 20 sets the above-described score S2 from the parking width of the parking lot, the total width W0 of the host vehicle 100, and the door width W1.
In step 220, the navigation device 20 sets a parking difficulty level for each parking lot based on the scores of S1, S2, and (S1 + S2), and guides a parking lot that is easy to park on the display 40 or the like.
In the present embodiment, the parking difficulty level is determined from the parking difficulty level determined based on the dimension data of the own vehicle 100 and the parking difficulty level determined based on the turning characteristics of moving the own vehicle 100 to the parking space 124 as described above. Judgment can be made comprehensively and a parking lot that is easy to park can be guided.

(Other embodiments)
The determination of the parking difficulty in consideration of the dimension data of the own vehicle 100 and the turning characteristics of the own vehicle 100 when moving the own vehicle 100 to the parking space 124 described in the above-described embodiment is performed on a flat parking lot. It can be applied not only to multi-story parking lots but also to tower-type parking lots. In the case of a three-dimensional parking lot, since the structure of the parking lot is usually the same on each floor, the parking difficulty level is determined based on the parking lot information for the first floor. When the structure of the parking lot differs depending on the floor, the parking difficulty level may be determined for each floor. Even in a tower-type parking lot, the host vehicle may be turned depending on the width, angle, and the like of the passage on the way to the turntable. Therefore, it is possible to determine the parking difficulty level in the tower type parking lot in consideration of the turning characteristics of the own vehicle.
In the above-described embodiment, the parking difficulty level is determined by including the difficulty level of getting on and off after parking in the parking difficulty level from the full width W0 of the host vehicle 100, the door width W1 and the parking width of the parking space 124. The parking difficulty level may be determined without being included in the parking difficulty level.

  In the above embodiment, the desired arrival time is input in step 200 for receiving the parking lot search request, and in step 210, it is determined whether there is a parking lot satisfying the desired arrival time from the own vehicle position in the accessible parking lot. When a desired parking lot is found, the parking difficulty level is determined for the desired parking lot. On the other hand, without entering the desired arrival time, the arrival time may be obtained for each parking lot existing in the search area of the parking lot, and the score S3 may be newly set from the arrival time. S3 is, for example, a maximum of 10 points, and indicates that the higher the score is, the parking lot that can be reached in a short time from the current position of the vehicle 100 or the destination point. Then, the parking difficulty level may be set based on S3, (S1 + S3), (S2 + S3), and (S1 + S2 + S3).

The hardware block diagram by this embodiment. The block diagram of the software by this embodiment. (A) is a side view of the own vehicle, (B) is a view in the direction of arrow B in (A). Explanatory drawing which shows the turning locus | trajectory of the own vehicle. Explanatory drawing which shows a parking operation | movement possible range. Explanatory drawing which shows the state of the own vehicle parked in the parking space. (A) is a score diagram showing the scores S1, S2 and (S1 + S2) of each parking lot, and (B) is an explanatory diagram showing a parking difficulty level that comprehensively determines the scores. Flow chart of parking lot guidance.

Explanation of symbols

20 navigation device, 32: direction sensor (position detection means), 34: GPS unit (position detection means), 36: vehicle speed sensor (position detection means), 40: display (parking lot guidance means), 42: speaker, 50: CPU (parking lot information acquisition means, vehicle information acquisition means, turning characteristic acquisition means, parking difficulty determination means, parking lot guidance means), 100: own vehicle, 102: door, 110: outer circumference trajectory (turning characteristics), 112: Inner circumference locus (turning characteristics) 120: parking lot, 124: parking space, 124: parking operation possible range

Claims (6)

A parking lot information acquisition means for acquiring a vehicle movable range of a parking lot in a region where the vehicle is scheduled to park;
Vehicle information acquisition means for acquiring dimensional data of the vehicle as vehicle information;
Turning characteristic acquisition means for acquiring the turning characteristic of the host vehicle;
A parking difficulty level determination means for determining a parking difficulty level for parking the vehicle in the parking lot based on the dimension data, the turning characteristic, and the vehicle movable range;
Parking lot guidance means for guiding the parking lot based on the parking difficulty level;
A navigation device comprising: The parking lot information acquisition means acquires a parking width of the parking lot,
The vehicle information acquisition means acquires the full width and door width of the host vehicle,
The said parking difficulty determination means determines the boarding difficulty after parking based on the said full width, the said door width, and the said parking width, The said boarding difficulty is included in the said parking difficulty. Navigation device.   The navigation device according to claim 1, wherein the turning characteristic acquisition unit acquires an inner circumference locus and an outer circumference locus when the host vehicle turns as the turning characteristic.   The navigation device according to claim 3, wherein the turning characteristic acquisition unit defines the inner track and the outer track from a minimum turning radius and the dimension data acquired by the vehicle information acquisition unit.   The parking difficulty level determination means calculates the number of turnovers required until the vehicle parks in the parking space of the parking lot based on the turning characteristics, and determines the parking difficulty level according to the number of turnovers. The navigation device according to claim 3 or 4. A parking lot information acquisition stage for acquiring a vehicle movable range of a parking lot in a region where the vehicle is scheduled to park,
A vehicle information acquisition step of acquiring the vehicle size data as vehicle information;
A turning characteristic acquisition step of acquiring the turning characteristic of the vehicle;
A parking difficulty level determination step of determining a parking difficulty level for parking the vehicle in the parking lot based on the dimension data, the turning characteristics, and the vehicle movable range;
A parking lot guidance stage for guiding the parking lot based on the parking difficulty level;
Navigation method including.

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