JP3783476B2 - Navigation device - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a navigation device that sets a route to a destination input by a user and performs guidance based on the set route.
[0002]
[Prior art]
2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there is known an in-vehicle navigation device that sets an appropriate route (recommended route) from a current location to a destination and displays the recommended route on a display together with a current position detected by a GPS or the like for route guidance. This contributes to smoother driving. At this time, the user inputs the destination. For example, the destination is searched hierarchically from the menu display, and if a desired destination is displayed, it is set.
[0003]
However, when searching for destinations hierarchically from the menu display, it is necessary to specify, for example, prefecture names, city names, street addresses, etc. in order, which is troublesome for the user. In addition, there is a method of moving the cursor to the destination on the map displayed on the display, but after displaying the corresponding map and changing its scale, etc., if the cursor does not move well, the desired position Since it cannot be set, it is a time-consuming work for the user. For example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-11699 converts a facility's coordinate position information (longitude / latitude) into a bar code and uses the bar code as a scanner. And a technique for setting the facility as a destination is disclosed. For example, the coordinate position information of the facility is converted into a barcode and printed on a pamphlet or the like. When the user thinks that the facility is to be set as the destination, it is only necessary to read the barcode with a scanner, so the work load is reduced.
[0004]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, in the case of this prior art, only the coordinate position information is stored in the barcode. This is because in the case of a barcode, only character information of about several crosses can be encoded. Therefore, there is no problem if only the position is specified, but business hours and regular holidays are not known, and there is a disadvantage that the facility cannot be used after actually arriving at the location.
[0005]
Of course, there are pamphlets that are printed until such business hours and regular holidays, but it is difficult to disclose details even if the print medium can ensure only a small printing area. Also, even if it is printed until business hours or regular holidays, if the user does not pay attention to it, it will be set as the destination even though it is actually a regular holiday, and it will be the first regular holiday for the site There may be situations where you know.
[0006]
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a navigation device that facilitates setting of a destination by mechanically reading encoded information and allows a user to check a business situation of a facility at the destination. To do.
[0007]
[Means for Solving the Problems and Effects of the Invention]
In the navigation device according to the first aspect, the facility information can be read from the two-dimensional code by the two-dimensional code reading means. This facility information includes at least location information for specifying the location of the facility and business information indicating the business hours and regular holidays of the facility. And a two-dimensional code that includes a reference information acquisition unit that acquires at least one of the current time and reference information in the calendar of the day, as determined by the reference information acquired by the reference information acquisition unit. Based on the contents of the business information extracted from the facility information read by the reading means, the business state of the corresponding facility is determined.
[0008]
If it is determined by the determination means that the business is in operation, the business time processing means extracts position information from the facility information read by the two-dimensional code reading means, and sets the extracted position as the destination. . Therefore, it is possible to set a recommended route to the set destination and perform route guidance based on the recommended route.
[0009]
  On the other hand, if it is determined by the determination means that it is not open, it is determined that the non-business time processing means is not openTogether with the reasonNotify users.For example, it may be notified that “Today is a regular holiday” or “The business hours are from 10:30 to 20:00, but the estimated arrival time is 20:30”.As a method of this notification, it is possible to appeal to the user's vision by displaying it on the image display device and informing the user's hearing by notifying with voice from the audio output device. It may be something that appeals.
[0010]
  In this way, instead of setting destinations uniformly based only on location information as facility information,Together with the reasonThe fact that it was possible to prevent such inconveniences that the facility cannot be used because it is out of business hours or on a regular holiday when it actually arrives at the facility, and the effectiveness of the facility guidance is improved. To do.
[0011]
In order to determine the business state, the facility information needs to include business information indicating the business hours of the facility and regular holidays, and the information amount of the facility information becomes relatively large. A one-dimensional code such as a barcode may be used as long as it only indicates position information (latitude / longitude) as in the prior art, but the barcode cannot be used to include sales information. Thus, by using a two-dimensional code capable of indicating a relatively large amount of information, facility information including business information in addition to position information can be stored. Therefore, the navigation device of the present invention has a function capable of reading a two-dimensional code.
[0012]
Note that the notification method may be display, audio, or both. Considering a current in-vehicle navigation device, since it is common to provide guidance by appealing to the sense of sight and hearing by outputting sound together with the screen display, such a configuration is easy to adopt. And when realizing as an in-vehicle navigation device, it is considered preferable to ensure at least audio notification. This is because an advantage of notifying by voice is that the driver does not have to shift the viewpoint to the display device, so that safe driving can be ensured better.
[0013]
  On the other hand, regarding the determination by the determination means,3As shown in FIG. 4, it is possible to determine whether or not the business is currently open. In many cases, there is no problem if it is determined whether or not it is currently open, but for example, it is determined that it is open even immediately before closing the store, and the facility is followed according to the recommended route set as the destination. It is also possible that the facility will actually close on the way. In this case, the effectiveness of route guidance is reduced.4As shown in. That is, the determination means determines whether or not it is in business after a predetermined time from the present time. That is, the time is determined in consideration of the time required to reach the facility from the current location. In this way, the possibility of being in business even when arriving at the corresponding facility increases, and the effectiveness of facility guidance is further improved. On the other hand, even if it is outside business hours at the current time, the store may be opened after a predetermined time (within business hours). Therefore, it is effective in that such facilities can be guided appropriately.
  In addition, as shown in claim 5, when determining the time required to reach the facility from the current location, the business hours in the business information and the arrival at the facility as in the specific example described above It is also preferable to notify together with the scheduled time. For example, when it is notified that “business hours are from 10:30 to 20:00, but the estimated arrival time is 10:00”, this means that the arrival is too early. In this case, it is convenient for the user because it is understood that it is only necessary to arrive 30 minutes later.
[0014]
Note that the time required to reach the relevant facility from the current location varies depending on the usage mode of the navigation device. For example, when it is mounted on a vehicle and used as a so-called car navigation device, the time is calculated on the assumption that the vehicle moves. Since the point of calculating the required time to a certain destination is already realized in the field of navigation devices, that method may be used. However, since this method is based on the assumption that the vehicle travels along the route, it is accurate but increases the processing load. Therefore, if the accuracy up to that point is not required, the required time may be simply calculated according to the linear distance to the facility. On the other hand, of course, assuming a usage method on the assumption that a human moves on foot, the time required for walking is calculated. For example, it is assumed that it is applied to portable information tools such as laptop computers and PDAs with built-in communication functions, and information terminal devices intended for users who are installed on the street and move on foot. Such as the case.
[0015]
  Claims6As shown in FIG. 5, when the period information indicating the validity period of its own information is also included in the facility information, the determination unit may perform the following determination. That is, the period information extracted from the facility information read by the two-dimensional code reading means viewed from the reference information acquired by the reference information acquisition means prior to the determination of whether or not the corresponding facility is in operation is the facility read It is determined whether or not the information is valid. When the non-business-time processing unit determines that the facility information is not valid by the determination unit, the non-business-time processing unit notifies the user to that effect.
[0016]
  This assumes the case where it is mainly held for a limited time. For example, if it is a ski resort or skate rink, it is limited to the winter season, and if it is a normal pool that is not a heated pool, it is limited to the summer season. In addition, in the case of a facility that is used for multiple purposes such as a gymnasium or a hall, the contents of the event often change every few days, weeks, or months. Thus, even if the facility itself physically exists, whether or not the facility is used for a predetermined purpose is fluid. Therefore, the “effective period” of the two-dimensionally coded information is set according to the period during which the facility is used for the purpose. By determining the validity based on the validity period, convenience for the user is achieved.
[0018]
  In the description so far, the processing executed by the non-business-time processing means when it is determined that the determination means is not in business is thatTogether with the reasonNotify usersAbout the inventionAs explained, the claims2Shown inIn the invention,Non-business hours processing meansThe position information is extracted from the facility information read by the two-dimensional code reading means, and the notification position is executed after setting the extracted position as the destination.TheThis is in consideration of the fact that it may be a destination even during non-business hours. For example, if it is not the purpose of using the facility itself but merely a meeting place, the presence or absence of business is irrelevant. Therefore, the notification process may be performed after the destination. In particular, the claims5As shown in FIG. 4, when determining the time required to reach the facility from the current location, the route to the destination is set for the determination. Therefore, the notification is actually made after the destination is first set.
[0019]
  However, it is assumed that the user wants to change the destination based on the content of the notification. Even if the notification is not made, the destination once set may be changed. Therefore, the claim7It is convenient if the user can cancel the destination once set as shown in FIG.
[0020]
As a matter of course, the processing executed by the non-business-time processing means when the judging means determines that it is not in business is simply to inform the user that it is not in business, and the destination setting is However, it is possible to set the destination again afterwards.
[0021]
  Meanwhile, claims8The navigation device further includes an instruction input means for inputting a user instruction. The facility information includes guidance information about the facility, and the non-business-time processing means informs whether or not to further inform the guidance information, and whether to inform the guidance information. If an instruction to notify the guide information is input via the instruction input means in response to the inquiry, the guide information is further notified.
[0022]
For example, when a destination such as a supermarket or a department store is desired, even if the day is a regular holiday, it may be desired to know special sale information. In addition, in an art museum or the like, it is beneficial for users to know the schedule of future exhibition contents. Therefore, there is a case where the user wants to know information for the future even if he / she cannot go on that day, and the convenience of the user can be achieved in this respect.
[0023]
In addition, the function which implement | achieves the determination means, business time processing means, and non-business time processing means in the navigation apparatus mentioned above with a computer system can be provided as a program started on the computer system side, for example. In the case of such a program, for example, the program is recorded on a computer-readable recording medium such as a floppy disk, a magneto-optical disk, a CD-ROM, or a hard disk, and is used by being loaded into a computer system and started up as necessary. it can. In addition, the ROM or backup RAM may be recorded as a computer-readable recording medium, and the ROM or backup RAM may be incorporated into a computer system and used.
[0024]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Embodiments to which the present invention is applied will be described below with reference to the drawings. Needless to say, the embodiments of the present invention are not limited to the following examples, and can take various forms as long as they belong to the technical scope of the present invention.
[0025]
FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram when applied as a vehicle-mounted navigation device 1.
The navigation device 1 according to the present embodiment performs data communication between the position detector 12 that detects the current position of the vehicle and the information distribution center 4 via a wireless telephone line in order to collect various road traffic information. A device 18, an external information input / output device 19, an operation switch group 20 for inputting various commands to the device, and a remote control terminal (not shown) that can input various commands similar to the operation switch group 20 Remote control sensor 21 for inputting a signal from a remote control), a map data input device 22, an external memory 24, a display device 26 for performing various displays such as a map display screen and a TV screen, and a two-dimensional code. Reading device 27, speaker 28, calendar clock 29, position detector 12, operation switch group 20, map data input device 22, two-dimensional code described above. A navigation control circuit 30 that executes various processes according to inputs from the reading device 27 and a remote controller (not shown) and controls the communication device 18, the external information input / output device 19, the external memory 24, the display device 26, and the speaker 28. ing.
[0026]
The position detector 12 receives a radio wave transmitted from an artificial satellite for GPS (Global Positioning System) via a GPS antenna and is added to the vehicle and a GPS receiver 12a that detects the position, direction, speed, and the like of the vehicle. A gyroscope 12b for detecting the magnitude of the rotational motion, a vehicle speed sensor 12c for detecting the travel distance of the vehicle comprising a vehicle speed sensor, a wheel sensor, and the like, and a geomagnetic sensor 12d for detecting the absolute direction based on the geomagnetism It has. Each of the sensors 12a to 12d has an error having a different property, and is configured to be used while complementing each other. Depending on the accuracy, the sensor may be configured by using only a part of the above-described sensors 12a to 12d, or the vehicle steering angle obtained from the difference in rotation between the left and right steering wheels may be accumulated to change the direction. A desired sensor or the like may be used.
[0027]
In addition, the communication device 18 includes a wireless telephone device made up of a mobile phone or a car phone that can be connected to the public telephone network, and external information in accordance with a procedure determined via the wireless telephone device in accordance with a command from the navigation control circuit 30. In addition to connecting to the information distribution center as a source, the data from the navigation control circuit 30 is encoded into a form that can be transmitted via the radiotelephone device, and the data input via the radiotelephone device is encoded into the control circuit 30. And a modem for decoding the data into a form that can be processed by the computer.
[0028]
On the other hand, the external information input / output device 19 receives an FM broadcast signal via a radio antenna (not shown) or from a fixed station for a VICS (Vehicle Information and Communication System) service arranged near the road. The radio beacon signal and the optical beacon signal are received. This received information is sent to the navigation control circuit 30 for processing. In addition, information can be transmitted to the outside.
[0029]
Next, as the operation switch group 20, a touch switch configured integrally with the display device 26 and set on a display screen, a mechanical key switch provided around the display device 26, and the like are used. The touch switch is composed of an infrared sensor arranged indefinitely on the screen of the display device 26. When the infrared ray is cut off with, for example, a finger or a touch pen, the cut-off position becomes a two-dimensional coordinate value (X, Y). ) Is detected. Thereby, as will be described later, a predetermined instruction can be input by directly touching the display screen.
[0030]
Next, the map data input device 22 is a device for inputting various data including so-called map matching data for improving the accuracy of position detection and road data representing road connections from a storage medium. As a storage medium, a CD-ROM is generally used because of the amount of data, but another medium such as a DVD or a memory card may be used. The road data is a map formed by connecting a plurality of nodes such as intersections with links, and for each link, a unique number (link ID) for identifying the link and a link indicating the length of the link Stored is link information including data on the length, x and y coordinates of the start and end of the link, the road width of the link, and the road type (indicating road information such as toll roads).
[0031]
The display device 26 is a color display device in the present embodiment, and on its screen, a mark indicating the current location of the vehicle detected by the position detector 12, road data input from the map data input device 22, and Additional data such as a guide route, a name, and a mark displayed on the map can be displayed in an overlapping manner. Moreover, the display for the alerting | reporting alert | report and alerting | reporting alerting which are mentioned later can also be performed.
[0032]
The speaker 28 notifies the user of voice information for various guidance processed by the navigation control circuit 30.
Next, the navigation control circuit 30 is configured around a known microcomputer comprising a CPU, a ROM, and a RAM. The current position of the vehicle based on each detection signal from the position detector 12 and a map data input device. Based on the processing of displaying the map near the current position read via the display 22 on the display screen and the facility index data stored in the map data input device 22, the destination becomes the destination according to the operation of the operation switch group 20 or the remote controller. A so-called navigation process such as a destination selection process for selecting a facility, a route guidance process for automatically selecting an optimal route from the current position to the destination, and performing guidance according to the selected route is executed. As a method for automatically setting an optimal route, a method such as the Dijkstra method is known. Then, the guidance route is displayed overlaid on the road map on the display device 26, and an appropriate route is guided to the driver.
[0033]
Although it has been conventionally realized to select a facility as a destination according to the operation of the operation switch group 20 or the remote controller described above, in this embodiment, the destination can be set even by using the two-dimensional code reader 27. Have been able to. Specifically, for example, information is read from the two-dimensional code 50 printed on the printed matter 40 shown in FIG. 2, and the destination is set based on position information (here, coordinate data) included in the read information. To do. The printed matter 40 shown in FIG. 2 is a supermarket advertising flyer.
[0034]
Information stored in the two-dimensional code 50 includes a facility name, a telephone number, a street address, coordinate data indicating a position, regular holidays, business hours, a valid period, various types of guidance information, and the like. Among these, the coordinate data indicating the position represents, for example, north latitude and east longitude as “xx degrees xx minutes xx seconds”, respectively, as stored even using conventional barcodes. As for the regular holiday, if the fixed day of the week is a regular holiday, the data “every week ○ day” may be used. However, since a fixed holiday may change on a monthly basis, in the case shown in FIG. 2, assuming that such a fixed holiday, for example, the fixed holiday in April is data of the 15th and the 22nd. In the case of FIG. 2, the effective period is a period in which the advertising content printed on the printed matter 40 is effective. For example, in this case, only April 1st to 30th April is the effective period. is there. In addition, the various types of guidance information include, for example, information on supermarket sales in the case of FIG.
[0035]
These pieces of information are all stored in one two-dimensional code 50. Here, the two-dimensional code 50 will be described. In this embodiment, a QR (Quick Response) code is adopted as an example of the two-dimensional code 50. As illustrated in the explanatory diagram of FIG. 3, the QR code is composed of bright (white) or dark (black) cells arranged in two vertical and horizontal directions. This QR code has three positioning symbols A, C, and D. When the QR code is optically read, first, the three positioning symbols A, C, and D are detected. The positioning symbols A, C, and D have a specific ratio of 1 (dark): 1 (bright): 3 (dark): 1 (bright): 1 (dark) regardless of the scanning direction. It is a pattern. Therefore, if this specific ratio is detected, the positioning symbols A, C, and D can be detected. Since the QR code has timing cells E and F in which bright and dark cells are alternately arranged between the positioning symbols A, C, and D, the QR code further includes other cells from the center position of the timing cell. The center position is determined and decoded. The QR code as the two-dimensional code 50 shown in FIG. 2 and FIG. 3 is for showing the outline, and it is not arranged in the cell representing the stored information example shown in FIG. Let me add.
[0036]
In the example shown in FIG. 2, the information amount corresponding to 250 to 300 characters in terms of Kanji code is stored in the two-dimensional code 50. The amount of information that cannot be stored with a conventional bar code is sufficient, but in the case of a QR code, it is possible to store up to about 1800 characters.
[0037]
On the other hand, the two-dimensional code reading device 27 for reading the two-dimensional code 50 includes a control unit, a reading unit, a communication I / F, and the like. The control unit is configured as a computer system including a CPU, a ROM, a RAM, an I / O, and the like, and captures an image of the two-dimensional code 50 through the reading unit in accordance with a program stored in the ROM. Then, the captured image is decoded, and the communication I / F is resolved and output to the navigation control circuit 30. The reading unit includes an illumination light emitting diode, an amplification circuit, a binarization circuit, an address generation circuit, an image memory, and the like in addition to an optical system such as a collect mirror, an imaging lens, and a CCD area sensor. And based on the instruction | indication from a control part, the red light for illumination is irradiated to the two-dimensional code 50 recorded on the surface of the printed matter 40 from the light emitting diode for illumination. The reflected light is imaged by a CCD area sensor through a collect mirror and an imaging lens. The scanning line signal output from the CCD area sensor is amplified by the amplifier circuit, converted to binary data by the binarization circuit, and stored in the image memory. The address of the storage destination in the image memory is generated by an address generation circuit in units of 8 bits, for example. The configuration for reading a two-dimensional code (QR code) as shown here is well known to those skilled in the art. If necessary, refer to, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 10-187868.
[0038]
Subsequently, of the processes executed by the navigation control circuit 30, the process for setting the destination based on the information read from the two-dimensional code 50 via the two-dimensional code reading device 27 is further described in accordance with the flowchart of FIG. This will be described with reference to FIGS.
[0039]
In the first step S 10 in FIG. 4, a reading instruction is issued to the two-dimensional code reading device 27. As a result, the two-dimensional code 50 is captured as an image by the two-dimensional code reader 27, and the recorded information is read and sent to the navigation control circuit 30. In S20, route calculation and estimated arrival time are calculated. Specifically, coordinate data (see FIG. 2) is extracted from the two-dimensional code information read in S10, and a route calculation using the coordinate data as a destination is performed.
[0040]
For this route calculation, a method such as Dijkstra method is employed. The route calculation using the Dijkstra method uses the link information for links between nodes and the connection information between links including traffic restrictions to calculate the route cost (evaluation value for the route) from the current location to each node. This is a well-known technique for setting a recommended route by connecting links that have the lowest route cost when all the costs to the destination have been calculated. The route cost calculation at each link in the Dijkstra method is performed using, for example, the following equation.
[0041]
Route cost = link length x road width factor x road type factor x congestion degree
Here, the road width coefficient is a coefficient set according to the road width, and the road type coefficient is a coefficient set according to the road type such as a toll road. The traffic congestion degree is a coefficient set according to the traffic congestion degree of the road, and the initial value is “1”. That is, when there is no traffic jam, “1” is set so as not to affect the calculation of the route cost, and the numerical value is set larger as the traffic jam degree becomes higher. By adding the route cost calculated using the above equation, the route cost on the route to the destination is obtained. Then, at the stage where all cost calculations up to the destination are completed, a link that minimizes the route cost is connected and a recommended route to the destination is set.
[0042]
The estimated arrival time is calculated by first calculating the time required to move from the current location to the proposal destination and adding it to the current time obtained from the calendar clock 29. Since it is well known to estimate and calculate the time required to move from the current location to a certain point, it will not be described in detail here. However, since the external information input / output device 19 is provided in the present embodiment, for example, traffic jam information can be acquired. Therefore, if the estimated arrival time is calculated with reference to this traffic jam information, it becomes more realistic. In other words, even if it is a place that can normally be reached in 2 hours, it may be determined that it will take about 4 hours due to traffic jams. However, it will be excluded from the candidates.
[0043]
As described above, after the recommended route to the destination and the estimated arrival time are calculated in S20, the process proceeds to S30. In S30, valid period data (see FIG. 2) is extracted from the two-dimensional code information read in S10, and compared with the current date obtained from the calendar clock 29, it is determined whether or not it is still within the valid period. . And if it is in a valid period (S30: YES), it will transfer to S40.
[0044]
In S40, fixed holiday data (see FIG. 2) is extracted from the two-dimensional code information read in S10, and compared with the current date obtained from the calendar clock 29, it is determined whether or not the current day is a fixed holiday. And if it is not a regular holiday (S40: NO), it will transfer to S50.
[0045]
In S50, business time data (see FIG. 2) is extracted from the two-dimensional code information read in S10, and compared with the predicted arrival time calculated in S20, it is determined whether the predicted arrival time is within business hours. To do. And if it is within business hours (S50: YES), it will transfer to S60 and will perform normal information for guidance. An example of this normal guidance notification is shown in FIG. Here, a map around the facility is displayed on the display device 26, and a mark indicating the location of the facility is displayed thereon. Furthermore, “Destination XX Super XX Store” is displayed as characters and a display for asking whether or not to display information is displayed. Further, in addition to the notification by such display, the speaker 28 also makes a notification by voice such as “Set XX super XX shop as destination. Do you want to display information?”.
[0046]
A user who has watched such notification can instruct whether or not to display information for facility guidance by touching the “do not do” portion displayed on the display device 26 with a finger. it can. This is because, as described above, these can be detected by the touch switch that is integrated with the display device 26 and set on the display screen.
[0047]
Therefore, in S70, it is determined whether or not the facility guidance information display is instructed. When the facility guidance is provided (S70: YES), the process proceeds to S80 to notify the facility guidance. An example of this facility guidance notification is shown in FIG. Also here, notification by display using the display device 26 and notification by voice using the speaker 28 are performed. For example, in the case of FIG. 2, the notification content includes information on a case where an exhibition immediate sale or a special sale is limited to a predetermined period, a regular holiday, and business hours.
[0048]
On the other hand, when the facility guidance is not provided (S70: NO), this process is terminated as it is. In addition, after the process shown in FIG. 4 is completed as described above, a normal navigation process is performed. That is, various guidance is performed so that the vehicle can appropriately travel along the set recommended route.
[0049]
The description so far is based on the case where the conditions for normal guidance notification are met in S60, that is, within the valid period (S30: YES), not a regular holiday (S40: NO), and the estimated arrival time is open. The case where it is within the time (S50: YES) has been described. Then, the processing content when the other judgment is made in S30-S50 is demonstrated.
[0050]
First, in S30, when a negative determination is made, that is, when the read two-dimensional code information is outside the valid period, the process proceeds to S90, and the first alerting notification is performed. An example of the first alerting notification is shown in FIG. This notification content is obtained by adding that the validity period of the code information has passed to the content of the normal guidance notification shown in FIG. In the case of FIG. 6 (a), in the case of the voice notification, the notification is made with a little more care than the case of the display “The code information has expired and the accurate information cannot be obtained.” Yes. Of course, such contents may also be displayed. After the process of S90, the process proceeds to S70.
[0051]
Next, when an affirmative determination is made in S40, that is, when today is a regular holiday, the process proceeds to S100, and a second alerting notification is performed. An example of the second alerting notification is shown in FIG. This notification content is obtained by adding that the present day is a regular holiday to the content of the normal guidance notification shown in FIG. After the process of S100, the process proceeds to S70.
[0052]
Next, when a negative determination is made in S50, that is, when the estimated arrival time is outside business hours, the process proceeds to S110, and a third alerting notification is performed. An example of the third alerting notification is shown in FIG. This notification content is obtained by adding the content for notifying the business hours and the estimated arrival time as a set to the normal guidance notification content shown in FIG. After the processing of S110, the process proceeds to S70.
[0053]
Note that the processes of S70 and S80 to be transferred after performing the processes of S90 to S110 are the same as those described above. In these cases, the code information is outside the valid period (S30: NO), today is a regular holiday (S40: YES), or the estimated arrival time is outside business hours (S50: NO). Of course, there are cases where the facility is not desired to be the destination. In that case, if the user operates the operation switch group 20 or the like to indicate cancellation or change of the destination during the normal navigation process executed after the process shown in FIG. The recommended route set in S20 of No. 4 is cancelled.
[0054]
In the present embodiment, the two-dimensional code reader 27 corresponds to a two-dimensional code reader, and the calendar clock 29 corresponds to a reference information acquisition unit. The navigation control circuit 30 corresponds to determination means, business time processing means, and non-business time processing means. Further, the operation switch group 20 or the remote controller corresponds to a cancel instruction input unit and an instruction input unit.
[0055]
As described above, according to the navigation device 1 of the present embodiment, the destination is not uniformly set based only on the location information of the facility, but the code information is outside the valid period (S30: NO), if today is a regular holiday (S40: YES), or if the estimated arrival time is outside business hours (S50: NO), this fact can be notified. Inconveniences such as the inability to use the facility can be prevented, and the effectiveness of facility guidance is improved.
[0056]
First, considering the validity period of the code information is effective mainly when it is held for a limited time. For example, if it is a ski resort or skate rink, it is limited to the winter season, and if it is a normal pool that is not a heated pool, it is limited to the summer season. In addition, in the case of a facility that is used for multiple purposes, such as a gymnasium or a hall, the content of the event changes every few days, weeks, months. In the case of art museums, it is the same in the sense of exhibiting artworks, but in the case of advertising as printed materials mentioned above, there are many projects that are named, for example, “XX Museum Exhibition”. The contents of the exhibition will change. Thus, even if the facility itself physically exists, whether or not the facility is used for a predetermined purpose is fluid. Therefore, the “effective period” of the two-dimensionally coded information is set according to the period during which the facility is used for the purpose. By determining the validity based on the validity period, convenience for the user is achieved.
[0057]
In addition, the effect of considering regular holidays and business hours is that it is possible to prevent inconvenience that the facility cannot be used when actually arriving at the place, but in this embodiment, the expected arrival time is the business hours. When it is outside, it notifies with the reason. That is, as shown in FIG. 6C, it notifies that “the business hours are from 10:30 to 20:00, but the estimated arrival time is 20:30”. In this case, it can be seen that it is scheduled to arrive 30 minutes after the end of business hours, so that it cannot be used on that day. In this way, there is a further effect because it is notified together with the reason. In other words, for example, when it is notified that “the business hours are from 10:30 to 20:00, but the estimated arrival time is 10:00”, this means that it arrives too early. In this case, it can be understood that it is only necessary to arrive 30 minutes later, and it is not usable at all.
[0058]
Further, in this embodiment, since both the display and voice are used as the notification method, more appropriate notification is performed. In particular, since the present embodiment is realized as an in-vehicle navigation device, voice notification is effective. This is because an advantage of notifying by voice is that the driver does not have to shift the viewpoint to the display device, so that safe driving can be ensured better.
[0059]
Further, in this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 4, after the route is calculated in S20, the alerting notification shown in S90 to S110 is performed. This is for the convenience of a user who wants to make the facility a destination even outside business hours, for example. For example, if it is not the purpose of using the facility itself but merely a meeting place, the validity period of code information, regular holidays, business hours, etc. are not relevant. Therefore, these notifications are made after setting the recommended route. And it can cope also when a user wants to change the destination based on the content of notification. That is, the user can cancel or change the destination during the normal navigation process executed after the process of FIG.
[0060]
Furthermore, not only when the normal guidance notification shown in S60 of FIG. 4 is performed, but also when the alerting notification shown in S90 to S110 is made, the facility guidance notification (S80) can be executed thereafter. It is like that. For example, when it is desired to use a supermarket or a department store as a destination, even if the day is a regular holiday, it may be desired to know special sale information. In addition, in an art museum or the like, it is beneficial for users to know the schedule of future exhibition contents. Therefore, there is a case where the user wants to know information for the future even if he / she cannot go on that day, and the convenience of the user can be achieved in this respect.
[0061]
[Another embodiment or aspect]
(1) In FIG. 4, after calculating the route in S20, the alerting notification shown in S90 to S110 is made. However, in the determinations in S30 to S50, the calculation of the recommended route and the estimated arrival time in S20 is only a precondition for determining whether the estimated arrival time in S50 is within business hours. S30 and S40 For this determination, the processing of S20 is not essential. Therefore, the order of S20, S30, and S40 may be interchanged. In this case, it may be possible that the code information is outside the valid period (S30: NO), or today is a regular holiday (S40: YES), and the destination is not finally set. In such a case, there is an effect that unnecessary route calculation is not required (that is, the processing load is reduced). Then, when the processing order is changed in this way, after the processing of S90 and S100 in FIG. 4, the determination step of whether or not to set as the destination, and when setting as the destination, to the destination And a step of calculating a recommended route.
[0062]
(2) In the above-described embodiment, the case where it is realized as an in-vehicle navigation device has been described. However, the mounting target is not limited to a vehicle. For example, the present invention can be applied to a portable information tool such as a notebook computer or a PDA with a built-in communication function, or an information terminal device for users who are installed on the street and move on foot. . In such a case, the “time required to reach the facility from the current location” used for calculating the estimated arrival time calculated in S20 of FIG. 4 changes. In other words, in the case of an in-vehicle navigation device, the time is calculated on the premise that the vehicle moves, but in the case of the portable information tool described above or the information terminal device installed on the street, a human is walking. Since it is assumed that the method of use is based on the assumption that you will be traveling with, the time required for walking will be calculated.
[0063]
(3) In the above-described embodiment, the QR code is taken as an example of the two-dimensional code 50, but other two-dimensional codes can be similarly applied.
(4) In the above-described embodiment, the operation switch group 20 and the remote controller are used for inputting an instruction from the user. However, for example, the instruction may be input by voice input. In that case, a voice recognition device is added. That is, the user's voice data input via the microphone is sequentially acoustically analyzed to extract the acoustic feature quantity (for example, cepstrum), and the acoustic feature quantity time-series data obtained by this acoustic analysis is obtained. Then, the time series data is divided into several sections by a known DP matching method, HMM (Hidden Markov Model), or a neural network, and it is determined which word is stored as dictionary data for each section. . Then, a higher comparison target pattern having a high degree of coincidence is obtained as a recognition result, and for example, a destination necessary for the navigation processing is notified to the navigation ECU 30 or a command for executing processing such as route setting is notified. . As a result of such processing, if this voice recognition device is used, it is possible to instruct a destination in route setting performed by the navigation ECU 30 by voice input without manually operating the operation switch group 20.
[0064]
In this way, in addition to the above-described voice notification, the interaction between the navigation device and the user can be performed almost via voice, so that safety is ensured even when driving the vehicle. Can be secured.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an overall configuration of a navigation device according to an embodiment.
FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of a printed matter on which a two-dimensional code is printed.
FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing a schematic configuration of a QR code as a two-dimensional code.
FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating processing executed by the navigation control circuit according to the embodiment.
FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing a specific example of normal guidance notification and facility guidance notification;
FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing a specific example of first to third alerting notifications.
[Explanation of symbols]
1 ... Navigation device 4 ... Information distribution center
12 ... Position detector 12a ... GPS receiver
12b ... Gyroscope 12c ... Vehicle speed sensor
12d ... Geomagnetic sensor 18 ... Communication device
19 ... External information input / output device 20 ... Operation switch group
21 ... Remote control sensor 22 ... Map data input device
24 ... External memory 26 ... Display device
27 ... Two-dimensional code reader 28 ... Speaker
29 ... Calendar clock 30 ... Navigation control circuit
40 ... printed matter 50 ... 2D code
A, C, D ... positioning symbols E, F ... timing cells

Claims (8)

In a navigation device that sets a recommended route to the destination and performs route guidance based on the recommended route,
A reference information acquisition means for acquiring at least any one of the current time and the calendar of the day;
A two-dimensional code reading means for reading the facility information from a two-dimensional code in which facility information including at least position information for specifying the position of the facility and business information indicating business hours and regular holidays of the facility is stored;
Judging means for judging the business state of the relevant facility from the contents of the business information extracted from the facility information read by the two-dimensional code reading means as seen from the reference information obtained by the reference information obtaining means;
If the determination means determines that the business is in operation, the position information is extracted from the facility information read by the two-dimensional code reading means, and the extracted position can be set as a destination. Time processing means;
And a non-business-time processing means for notifying the user of the reason for not being in business when the judgment means determines that the business is not in business.   In a navigation device that sets a recommended route to the destination and performs route guidance based on the recommended route,
  A reference information acquisition means for acquiring at least any one of the current time and the calendar of the day;
  A two-dimensional code reading means for reading the facility information from a two-dimensional code storing facility information including at least location information for identifying the location of the facility and business information indicating business hours and regular holidays of the facility;
  Judging means for judging the business state of the relevant facility from the contents of the business information extracted from the facility information read by the two-dimensional code reading means as seen from the reference information obtained by the reference information obtaining means;
  If it is determined by the determination means that the business is in operation, the position information is extracted from the facility information read by the two-dimensional code reading means, and the extracted position can be set as a destination. Time processing means;
  A non-business-time processing means for notifying the user that it is not in business when the judging means determines that it is not in business;
  With
  The non-business-time processing means extracts the position information from the facility information read by the two-dimensional code reading means, sets the extracted position as a destination, and then executes the notification process. A navigation device. The navigation device according to claim 1 or 2 ,
The navigation device according to claim 1, wherein the determination means determines whether or not the business is currently open. The navigation device according to claim 1 or 2 ,
The navigation device according to claim 1, wherein the determination unit determines whether the business is in operation after a predetermined time from a current time. The navigation device according to claim 4 , wherein
The navigation apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the predetermined time used for determining whether or not the business is in operation is determined in consideration of a time required to reach the facility from the current location. In the navigation apparatus in any one of Claims 1-5 ,
The facility information also includes period information indicating the validity period of its own information,
The determination means is extracted from the facility information read by the two-dimensional code reading means, as viewed from the reference information acquired by the reference information acquisition means, prior to determining whether the corresponding facility is in operation. Determine whether the period information is the validity period of the read facility information,
The non-business-time processing unit notifies the user of the fact when the determination unit determines that the facility information is not valid. In the navigation apparatus in any one of Claims 1-6 ,
The navigation apparatus further comprising a cancel instruction input means for a user to input an instruction to cancel the destination set by the business time processing means or the non-business time processing means. The navigation system according to any one of claims 1-7,
Furthermore, an instruction input means for inputting a user instruction is provided,
The facility information includes guidance information about the facility,
The non-business-time processing means notifies the contents of the inquiry about whether or not to further notify the guidance information, and notifies the guidance information via the instruction input means in response to the inquiry whether or not to notify the guidance information. The navigation apparatus further notifies the guidance information when an instruction to do so is input.

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