JP2009047491A - Navigation device - Google Patents

Abstract

A navigation device that facilitates lane change for traveling according to a recommended route.
A current position of a vehicle is detected by using a current position detection device. A lane in which the vehicle is traveling is detected using the traveling lane detection device. Based on the current location of the vehicle, the recommended route, and the map data, a branch point where the vehicle proceeds next is detected. If the vehicle travels on the driving lane as it is and cannot pass the branch point according to the recommended route, traffic congestion will occur at the tip of the recommended route based on the statistical traffic information stored on the DVD-ROM. It is determined whether or not. When there is a traffic jam at the end of the branch point, the predetermined distance as a reference for instructing the lane change is made longer than when there is no traffic jam at the end of the branch point. When the vehicle reaches a position within a predetermined distance from the detected branch point, a sound instructing lane change is output from the speaker.
[Selection] Figure 5

Description

  The present invention relates to a navigation device.

A navigation device that stores statistical traffic data in which link travel times by lane are stored is known as a conventional technique (for example, Patent Document 1). By using this statistical traffic data, it is possible to search for a recommended route with higher accuracy in consideration of the fact that traffic conditions differ from lane to lane.
JP 2007-71581 A

  However, in the conventional navigation device, depending on the traffic situation, it may not be possible to change to a lane for proceeding to the recommended route at a branch point or the like.

(1) The navigation device of the invention of claim 1 is detected by a search means for searching for a recommended route from the departure place to the destination, a lane detection means for detecting a lane in which the vehicle is traveling, and a lane detection means. Based on the lane, the judging means for judging whether or not the lane needs to be changed in order for the vehicle to enter the recommended route through the branch point, and that the judging means judges that the lane change is necessary. Instructing means for instructing lane change as a condition, and timing control means for controlling the timing of a lane change instruction by the instructing means based on statistical traffic information generated from traffic information collected in the past, To do.
(2) The invention according to claim 2 is the navigation device according to claim 1, wherein when the timing control means recognizes that the lane of the lane change destination is congested based on the statistical traffic information, it does not recognize the traffic jam. Compared to the case, the timing of changing the lane is advanced.
(3) The invention according to claim 3 is the navigation device according to claim 2, further comprising vehicle speed detecting means for detecting the vehicle speed, wherein the timing control means takes into account the vehicle speed detected by the vehicle speed detecting means, and exceeds a predetermined speed. In this case, the timing of the lane change instruction is advanced compared to the case where the speed is less than the predetermined speed.
(4) The invention of claim 4 is the navigation device according to claim 1, wherein the statistical traffic information includes lane information including average vehicle speed information and travel number information for each lane, and the timing control means includes lane information Of these, the timing of the lane change instruction is controlled based on the lane information of the lane change destination.
(5) The invention of claim 5 is the navigation device according to claim 4, wherein the timing control means has a condition that the average vehicle speed in the lane to which the lane is changed is a predetermined value or more and the number of traveling vehicles is a predetermined value or more. When the condition is satisfied, the timing of changing the lane is advanced compared to the case where the condition is not satisfied.
(6) The invention of claim 6 is the navigation device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the change destination lane instructed to change the lane by the lane change instruction means exits the highway. A lane through which a vehicle passes or a lane through which a vehicle passes when turning right at an intersection.

  According to the present invention, since the timing of the lane change instruction is appropriately controlled based on the statistical traffic information collected in the past, the recommended lane change timing is missed due to traffic congestion in the lane change destination lane. The risk of withdrawal can be eliminated.

  FIG. 1 shows a navigation device 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The navigation device 1 can detect the lane in which the vehicle is traveling and appropriately instruct the driver to change the lane on the recommended route. The navigation device 1 includes a control circuit 11, ROM 12, RAM 13, current location detection device 14, image memory 15, display monitor 16, speaker 17, input device 18, travel lane detection device 19, and disk drive 110. The disk drive 110 is loaded with a DVD-ROM 111 in which map data is stored.

  The control circuit 11 includes a microprocessor and its peripheral circuits, and performs various controls by executing a control program stored in the ROM 12 using the RAM 13 as a work area. When the control circuit 11 performs a predetermined route search process based on the map data stored in the DVD-ROM 111, the processing result is displayed on the display monitor 16 as a recommended route.

  The current location detection device 14 is a device that detects the current location of the vehicle. The current location detection device 14 includes a vibration gyro 14a, a vehicle speed sensor 14b, a GPS (Global Positioning System) sensor 14c, and the like. The vibration gyro 14a detects the traveling direction of the vehicle. The vehicle speed sensor 14b detects the vehicle speed. The GPS sensor 14c detects a GPS signal from a GPS satellite. The navigation device 1 determines a map display range, a route search start point, and the like based on the current location of the vehicle detected by the current location detection device 14. In addition, the current location of the vehicle is displayed as a vehicle position mark on the map.

  The image memory 15 stores image data to be displayed on the display monitor 16. This image data includes road map drawing data and various graphic data. They are appropriately generated in the control circuit 11 based on the map data stored in the DVD-ROM 111. The navigation device 1 can perform map display and the like by using the image data generated in this way.

  The disk drive 110 reads map data from the DVD-ROM 111. The map data includes map display data, route search data, and the like. The map display data and the route search data include road link information and node information stored in the map data. The road link information includes link travel time and information on the number of road lanes corresponding to the link. Unlike the statistical traffic information 20 described later, the link travel time is a value that is not related to the type of day, such as a weekday or a holiday, and the time zone. The map display data includes map data from a wide area to details. Thereby, the scale of a display map can be changed according to a user's request. The map data may be read from a recording medium other than the DVD-ROM 111, such as a CD-ROM or a hard disk.

  The DVD-ROM 111 stores information obtained by collecting past traffic information and statistically processing the information (hereinafter referred to as statistical traffic information). The statistical traffic information 20 will be described with reference to FIG. The statistical traffic information 20 includes a day type 21, a link ID 22, a lane 23 included in the link, and a link travel time statistical value 24 in each time zone. Here, the statistical value 24 of the link travel time in each time zone means that the link travel time is calculated from the information on the average speed of the vehicle collected in the past by the VICS (registered trademark) center or the like. It is a value calculated by classifying by lane, by lane, by time zone, and by statistical processing (for example, averaging).

  The display monitor 16 provides the user with various information such as a map near the vehicle position as a screen display based on various information such as map data. The speaker 17 outputs sound for instructing the user to perform various input operations and for guiding the route.

  The input device 18 has an operation member for the user to set various commands, and is realized by a button switch on the operation panel, a hard switch around the panel, or the like. The user manually sets the destination by manually operating the input device 18 in accordance with an instruction on the display screen of the display monitor 16 or a voice instruction from the speaker 17.

  When the destination is set by the user, the navigation device 1 uses the current location detected by the current location detection device 14 as a departure location, and performs a route calculation to the destination based on a predetermined algorithm. The route thus obtained (hereinafter referred to as a recommended route) is displayed on the screen in a manner different from other roads by changing the display form, for example, the display color. Thereby, the user can recognize the recommended route on the map on the screen. Further, the navigation device 1 instructs the user in the direction of travel using a screen or voice so that the vehicle can travel according to the recommended route, thereby guiding the route of the vehicle.

  The traveling lane detector 19 detects the lane in which the vehicle is traveling. The traveling lane detector 19 includes a camera (not shown). The traveling lane detection device 19 captures the boundary line of the lane with a camera, recognizes whether the boundary line is drawn with a solid line or a broken line, and the lane in which the vehicle is traveling based on the recognition result. Is detected. For example, when the vehicle is traveling on a two-lane road on one side, the vehicle recognizes that the vehicle is traveling on the right lane when the left boundary line of the traveling lane is a broken line. When the boundary line on the right side of the traveling lane is a broken line, the vehicle recognizes that the vehicle is traveling on the left lane. The number of lanes on the road on which the vehicle is traveling is acquired from map data stored in the DVD-ROM 111 based on the current location of the vehicle detected by the current location detection device 14. Note that since the position accuracy of the current location detected by the GPS sensor 14c is improved, the lane in which the vehicle is traveling may be detected based on the current location detected by the GPS sensor 14c.

  Next, with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4, the lane change instruction process in the embodiment of the present invention will be described. Here, the navigation device 1 does not use the statistical traffic information 20 but searches for a recommended route using the route search data. Then, the navigation device 1 issues a lane change instruction based on the recommended route.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining a lane change instruction when the vehicle heads for an exit interchange in order to exit the highway. A description will be given assuming that the recommended route 31 leaving the highway and heading for the exit interchange is searched, and the vehicle 32 travels according to the recommended route 31. The highway will be described on the assumption that it is one lane on one side.

  As shown in FIG. 3A, when the vehicle 32 is traveling in the central lane, the vehicle 32 must change from the central lane to the left lane in order to proceed to the exit interchange. When the vehicle 32 reaches a predetermined distance before the branch point from the expressway to the exit interchange (for example, 300 m before), the navigation device 1 outputs a voice guidance 33 “Specify change to left lane” from the speaker 17. Then, the user is instructed to change lanes.

  An arrow 34 in FIG. 3B is an arrow indicating a traffic jam, and is a case where the lane from the expressway to the exit interchange is jammed. In such a case, other vehicles are lined up in the left lane due to traffic congestion, and the vehicle 32 cannot change to the left lane. In order to avoid this, when the vehicle 32 reaches a distance (for example, 500 m before) that is longer than the predetermined distance, the navigation device 1 gives a voice guidance 33 “Please specify change to left lane” from the speaker 17. Output to instruct the user to change lanes.

  Information on traffic congestion is acquired as follows. The estimated arrival time at each link on the recommended route 31 is calculated using the link travel time of the route search data used for searching the recommended route 31. The predicted arrival time is collated with the statistical traffic information 20, and a link whose value (average speed) obtained by dividing the link length by the link travel time is smaller than a predetermined value is extracted. A road corresponding to the extracted link is a road where a traffic jam occurs.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining a lane change instruction when the vehicle turns right. It is assumed that a recommended route 41 that turns right on the road has been searched and the vehicle 42 travels according to the recommended route 41. The road will be described as having two lanes on one side.

  As shown in FIG. 4A, when the vehicle 42 is traveling in the left lane, the vehicle 42 must change to the right lane in order to turn right on the road. When the vehicle 42 reaches a predetermined distance before the intersection that makes a right turn (for example, 100 meters before), the navigation device 1 outputs a voice guidance 43 “Specify change to right lane” from the speaker 17 to the user. To change lanes.

  An arrow 44 in FIG. 4B is an arrow indicating a traffic jam, and is a case where the lane that passes when the vehicle turns right is jammed. In such a case, other vehicles are lined up in the right lane due to traffic congestion, and the vehicle 42 cannot change to the right lane. In order to avoid this, when the vehicle 42 reaches a distance that is longer than the predetermined distance (for example, 200 m before), the voice guidance 43 “Please change to the right lane” from the speaker 17. To instruct the user to change lanes. The traffic jam information is acquired using the statistical traffic information 20 as described above.

  Next, the lane change instruction process according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. The process of FIG. 5 is a program that starts when route guidance is started, and is executed by the control circuit 11.

  In step S501, the present location detection device 14 is used to detect the present location of the vehicles 32 and 42 (hereinafter simply referred to as vehicles). In step S502, the lane in which the vehicle is traveling is detected by using the traveling lane detector 19. In step S503, a branch point where the vehicle proceeds next is detected based on the current location of the vehicle, the recommended routes 31, 41 (hereinafter simply referred to as recommended routes), and map data.

  In step S504, it is determined whether or not the vehicles 32 and 42 can travel on the traveling lane as they are and pass through the branch points according to the recommended routes 31 and 41. If the vehicles 32 and 42 can pass through the branch points according to the recommended routes 31 and 41, an affirmative determination is made in step S504 and the process returns. When the vehicles 32 and 42 cannot pass the branch point according to the recommended routes 31 and 41, a negative determination is made in step S504, and the process proceeds to step S505.

  In step S505, based on the statistical traffic information 20 stored in the DVD-ROM 111, it is determined whether or not traffic congestions 34 and 44 (hereinafter simply referred to as traffic jams) have occurred in the changed lane through which the recommended route passes. If traffic congestion has occurred in the lane to be changed, an affirmative determination is made in step S505, and the process proceeds to step S506. If there is no traffic jam in the lane to be changed, a negative determination is made in step S505, and the process proceeds to step S507. In step S506, a predetermined distance as a reference for instructing lane change is set to L1. In step S507, a predetermined distance serving as a reference for instructing lane change is set to L2. Here, the distance L2 is smaller than the distance L1.

  In step S508, it is determined whether the vehicle has reached a position within a predetermined distance (L) from the detected branch point. If the vehicle has reached a position within a predetermined distance (L) from the detected branch point, an affirmative determination is made in step S508 and the process proceeds to step S509. If the vehicle has not reached a position within a predetermined distance (L) from the detected branch point, a negative determination is made in step S508 and the process returns. In step S509, voice guidance 33 and 43 (hereinafter simply referred to as voice guidance) for instructing lane change is output from the speaker 17. Then return.

The navigation device 1 according to the above-described embodiment of the present invention has the following operational effects.
(1) The traffic information on the road is acquired using the statistical traffic information 20, and the timing for instructing the lane change is changed depending on whether or not a traffic jam occurs in the lane that the vehicle changes. This facilitates lane changes for the vehicle to travel according to the recommended route. Further, since the traffic information of the lane to be changed is acquired using the statistical traffic information 20, the traffic information for each lane can be acquired.

(2) The statistical traffic information 20 is not used for searching for a recommended route, but the statistical traffic information 20 is used for acquiring traffic jam information for determining the timing of a lane change instruction. Thereby, it can drive | work according to a recommended route and the dissatisfaction with respect to a user's recommended route at the time of encountering a traffic jam can be suppressed.

  The statistical traffic information 20 is generally created by averaging a large number of sample data. For this reason, even if peculiar data is detected several times, the peculiar data does not appear in the statistical traffic information 20 because the sample data is averaged. When the recommended route is searched based on the statistical traffic information 20, the user's expectation that he / she will not encounter traffic congestion is considerably increased. However, when the user encounters the same situation as when the unique data described above is detected, the user encounters a traffic jam even if the route is searched using the statistical traffic information 20. Then, the dissatisfaction with the search for the recommended route by the user when encountering a traffic jam increases. On the other hand, when the recommended route is searched without using the statistical traffic information 20, the user's expectation that the user will not encounter a traffic jam is not high, so even if the user encounters the traffic jam, the dissatisfaction with the search for the recommended route is small.

The above embodiment can be modified as follows.
-Other embodiments 1-
As described above, in the navigation device that changes the timing of the lane change instruction based on the congestion information on the recommended route, the timing of the lane change instruction may be changed in consideration of the vehicle speed. This is because when the vehicle arrives a predetermined distance before the branch point, regardless of the vehicle speed, if the lane change instruction is issued, the time for performing the lane change operation is shortened when the vehicle speed is high. By changing the timing of the lane change instruction according to the vehicle speed, it is possible to secure sufficient time for changing the lane even when the vehicle speed is high.

  A lane change instruction process according to another embodiment 1 of the present invention will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. The process of FIG. 6 is a program that starts when route guidance is started, and is executed by the control circuit 11. Steps that are the same as those in the process of FIG. 5 are given the same reference numerals, and differences from the process of FIG.

  If a positive determination is made in step S505, the process proceeds to step S601. If a negative determination is made in step S505, the process proceeds to step S603.

  In step 601, the vehicle speed is detected by the vehicle speed sensor 14b, and it is determined whether or not the vehicle speed is equal to or higher than a predetermined speed (Tkm / h). If the vehicle speed is equal to or higher than the predetermined speed (Tkm / h), an affirmative determination is made in step S601 and the process proceeds to step S602. If the vehicle speed is less than the predetermined speed (Tkm / h), a negative determination is made in step S601, and the process proceeds to step S506. In step S602, a predetermined distance as a reference for instructing lane change is set to L3. Here, the distance L3 is larger than the distance L1. Then, the process proceeds to step S508.

  In step 603, the vehicle speed is detected by the vehicle speed sensor 14b, and it is determined whether or not the vehicle speed is equal to or higher than a predetermined speed (Tkm / h). If the vehicle speed is equal to or higher than the predetermined speed (Tkm / h), an affirmative determination is made in step S603, and the process proceeds to step S604. If the vehicle speed is less than the predetermined speed (Tkm / h), a negative determination is made in step S603, and the process proceeds to step S507. In step S604, a predetermined distance as a reference for instructing lane change is set to L4. Here, the distance L4 is larger than the distance L2 and smaller than the distance L1. Then, the process proceeds to step S508.

-Other embodiment 2-
As shown in FIG. 7, the information 25 of the average speed and average number of vehicles is added to the statistical traffic information 20A, and the lane change instruction timing is based on the average speed and average number of vehicles information 25 in addition to the traffic jam information. May be changed. Even if there is no traffic jam, if the speed of other vehicles traveling in the destination lane is high and there are many other vehicles traveling in the destination lane, the lane change may occur. It will be difficult. For example, such a situation is assumed on the Metropolitan Expressway. Therefore, in such a case, the predetermined distance (L), which serves as a reference for instructing the lane change, may be lengthened so that the lane change can be performed with a margin.

  The vehicle speed and average vehicle number information 25 is classified into vehicle speed and number detected by the traffic flow measurement system by day type, by link ID, by lane, and by time zone, and statistical processing (for example, Calculated by averaging). In the traffic flow measurement system, a road is photographed by an image sensor installed on the road at each point, a vehicle is extracted from the photographed image, the coordinates of the extracted vehicle are tracked, and the speed and the number of vehicles are measured.

  FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining an image when a road is photographed by the image sensor. For example, the vehicle is extracted by detecting the vicinity of the tail lamps 81a to 81c of the vehicle as shown in FIG. Thereby, the number of traveling vehicles can be measured. Then, the vicinity of the tail lamp 81a of the same vehicle is tracked, and the speed of the vehicle can be measured from the movement distance of the coordinates of the tail lamp vicinity 81b of the same vehicle after a predetermined time shown in FIG. 8B.

  A lane change instruction process according to another embodiment 2 of the present invention will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. The process of FIG. 9 is a program that starts when route guidance is started, and is executed by the control circuit 11. Steps that are the same as those in the process of FIG. 5 are given the same reference numerals, and differences from the process of FIG.

  After the value of the predetermined distance (L) is determined in step S506 or step S507, the process proceeds to step S901. In step S901, whether or not there is a link having an average speed equal to or higher than a predetermined value and an average number of traveling vehicles equal to or higher than a predetermined value in a change destination lane from the branch point to a branch point from a position a predetermined distance (L) from the branch point. Determine whether. If there is a link in the change destination lane with an average speed equal to or higher than a predetermined value and an average number of traveling vehicles equal to or higher than a predetermined value, an affirmative determination is made in step S901 and the process proceeds to step S902. If there is no link in the change destination lane with the average speed equal to or higher than the predetermined value and the average traveling number equal to or higher than the predetermined value, a negative determination is made in step S901, and the process proceeds to step S508. In step S902, a predetermined distance (L0) is added to a predetermined distance (L) that serves as a reference for instructing lane change. This added value is defined as a predetermined distance (L). Then, the process proceeds to step S508.

-Other Embodiments 3-
The required time of the recommended route calculated using the traffic jam information acquired from the VICS information is a predetermined ratio (for example, 20) compared to the required time calculated using the traffic jam information acquired from the VICS information when the recommended route is searched. %), The recommended route may be searched again. The search for the recommended route is performed in consideration of the traffic jam information acquired from the VICS information. This is because it is preferable to avoid the traffic jam by re-searching the recommended route rather than changing the lane change timing when the traffic jam is severe. Here, the search for the recommended route taking into consideration the traffic information acquired from the VICS information means that the link travel time is corrected according to the traffic jam and the recommended route is searched using the corrected travel time. .

  The above description is merely an example, and the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment.

The correspondence between the elements of the claims and the embodiments will be described.
The search means of the present invention corresponds to the control circuit 11, and the lane detection means corresponds to the traveling lane detection device 19. The determination means corresponds to the control circuit 11, and the instruction means corresponds to the control circuit 11 and the speaker 17. The vehicle speed detection means corresponds to the vehicle speed sensor 14b. In addition, the above description is an example to the last, and when interpreting invention, it is not limited to the correspondence of the component of said embodiment and the component of this invention at all.

It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the navigation apparatus by one Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure for demonstrating the statistical traffic information by one Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure for demonstrating the lane change instruction | indication when a vehicle leaves a highway and heads for an exit interchange. It is a figure for demonstrating the lane change instruction | indication when a vehicle turns right. It is a flowchart for demonstrating the lane change instruction | indication process in embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart for demonstrating the lane change instruction | indication process in other Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a figure for demonstrating the statistical traffic information in other Embodiment 2 of this invention. It is a figure for demonstrating a traffic flow measurement system. It is a flowchart for demonstrating the lane change instruction | indication process in other Embodiment 2 of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Navigation apparatus 11 Control circuit 13 RAM
16 display monitor 19 lane detector 110 disk drive 111 DVD-ROM

Claims (6)

A search means for searching for a recommended route from the starting point to the destination,
Lane detection means for detecting the lane in which the vehicle is traveling;
Determination means for determining whether the lane needs to be changed in order for the vehicle to enter the recommended route through the branch point based on the lane detected by the lane detection means;
Instructing means for instructing lane change on the condition that the determining means determines that a lane change is necessary,
A navigation apparatus comprising: timing control means for controlling the timing of a lane change instruction by the instruction means based on statistical traffic information generated from traffic information collected in the past. The navigation device according to claim 1, wherein
When the timing control means recognizes that the lane of the lane change destination is congested based on the statistical traffic information, the timing control means advances the timing of the lane change instruction compared to the case where the traffic jam is not recognized. Navigation device. The navigation device according to claim 2, wherein
It further comprises vehicle speed detecting means for detecting the vehicle speed,
The timing control means takes into account the vehicle speed detected by the vehicle speed detection means, and when the speed is higher than a predetermined speed, the timing of the lane change instruction is advanced compared to the case where the speed is lower than the predetermined speed. . The navigation device according to claim 1, wherein
The statistical traffic information includes lane information including average vehicle speed information and travel number information for each lane,
The said timing control means controls the timing of the instruction | indication of a lane change based on the lane information of a lane change destination among the said lane information, The navigation apparatus characterized by the above-mentioned. The navigation device according to claim 4, wherein
The timing control means is configured to issue a lane change instruction when a condition that the average vehicle speed in the lane to which the lane is changed is equal to or greater than a predetermined value and the number of traveling vehicles is equal to or greater than a predetermined value is satisfied as compared with a case where the condition is not satisfied. A navigation device characterized in that the timing is advanced. The navigation device according to any one of claims 1 to 5,
The change destination lane instructed to change the lane by the lane change instructing means is a lane through which the vehicle passes when leaving the highway, or a lane through which the vehicle passes when turning right at an intersection. Navigation device.

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