JP2002048571A - Route guiding device for vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To automatically record routes frequently used from a specified point such as one's home or the like and perform the route calculation to a designation by use of the recorded routes. SOLUTION: The actually traveled routes (respective routes from a starting node to end nodes 1-5) started from a specified point having a high frequency of being a starting point (start node) is recorded, and the guide route from the specified point to the designation is calculated by use of the recorded routes and displayed on a road map. Accordingly, an optimum guide route to the designation having a highly convenient route preferred and experienced by a driver as a passing route can be calculated.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an apparatus for displaying a route to a destination on a road map to guide an occupant.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A part of a guidance route from a current position to a destination is designated and recorded, or a route deviating from the guidance route is recorded, and the recorded route is designated as a passing route and used for the next route calculation. There is known a vehicle route guidance device that performs the above-described operation (for example, see Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 09-159476).

[0003]

However, in the conventional vehicle route guidance device, the route is recorded by manual operation, so that the operability is poor, and the route deviating from the guidance route is not always the optimal route. There is a problem that is not limited.

An object of the present invention is to automatically record frequently used routes from a specific point such as a home, and to use these recorded routes for calculating a route to a destination.

[0005]

Means for Solving the Problems The present invention will be described with reference to FIG. 1 showing the configuration of one embodiment. (1) The invention according to claim 1 is a route which actually travels starting from a specific point. Recording means 1 to 4, 6, 9 for recording
And route calculation means 4 and 6 for calculating a guidance route from a specific point to a destination using the recorded route, and display means 6 and 7 for displaying the guidance route on a road map. To achieve. (2) In the vehicle route guidance device according to the second aspect, a plurality of routes that do not overlap each other are recorded by the route recording units 1 to 4, 6, and 9. (3) In the vehicle route guidance device of the third aspect, the route recording means 1 to 4, 6, and 9 record a route within a predetermined range centering on a specific point. (4) In the vehicle route guidance apparatus according to claim 4, a predetermined number of the latest routes are recorded by the route recording means 1 to 4, 6, and 9. (5) In the vehicle route guidance device according to the fifth aspect, the route recording means 1 to 4, 6, and 9 are routes to a point where the actual traveling route from the specific point coincides with the calculated route from the specific point. Is recorded. (6) In the vehicle route guidance apparatus according to the sixth aspect, the direction of radiation from a specific point is divided into a predetermined number of regions by the route recording means 1 to 4, 6, and 9, and at least one route is provided for each region. Is recorded. (7) In the vehicle route guidance device according to claim 7, when a plurality of routes from the specific point to the destination are calculated by the route calculation means 4 and 6, the shortest route among them is regarded as the guidance route. It is something to do.

In the section of the means for solving the above-described problem, a diagram of one embodiment is used for easy understanding of the description, but the present invention is not limited to this embodiment. .

[0007]

(1) According to the first aspect of the present invention, the route actually traveled starting from the specific point is recorded, and the guidance route from the specific point to the destination is calculated using the recorded route. Since the information is displayed on the road map, the optimal guidance route to the destination can be calculated using the driver's favorite route, the route that the driver is accustomed to, or the highly convenient route as the passing route. . (2) According to the second aspect of the present invention, since a plurality of routes that do not overlap each other are recorded, the recording capacity of the route recording device can be reduced. (3) According to the third aspect of the present invention, since a route within a predetermined range centered on a specific point is recorded, "recording a route within a predetermined distance centered on home" is described.
It is possible to use a recording method that is easy for the driver to understand, and when calculating a route to a destination using such a recording route, the distance relationship and the positional relationship between the recording route and the subsequent calculation route are determined by the driver. Will be easier to understand. (4) According to the invention of claim 4, since a predetermined number of the latest routes are recorded, it is possible to cope with a change in the road environment and a change in the driving purpose of the driver. (5) According to the invention of claim 5, since the route to the point where the actual traveling route from the specific point coincides with the calculated route from the specific point is recorded, the recording capacity of the route recording device is recorded. Can be reduced. (6) According to the invention of claim 6, the radiation direction from the specific point is divided into a predetermined number of areas, and at least one route is recorded for each area, so that each direction is evenly distributed from the specific point. The route to the destination can be recorded, and no matter where the destination is set, the optimal route using the recording route in that direction can be calculated. (7) According to the invention of claim 7, when a plurality of routes from the specific point to the destination are calculated, the shortest route among them is set as the guidance route, so that the driver's preference It is possible to calculate an optimal guidance route to the destination by using a route that is already used, a route that is familiar, or a route that is highly convenient.

[0008]

FIG. 1 shows a configuration of an embodiment. The GPS receiver 1 receives a signal wave from a GPS satellite and detects the current position by satellite navigation. The traveling distance sensor 2 detects the traveling distance of the vehicle. The traveling direction sensor 3 includes a geomagnetic sensor that detects an absolute direction of the vehicle and an optical gyro that detects a change in direction of the vehicle, and detects the traveling direction of the vehicle. The controller 6, which will be described later, detects the current position of the vehicle by well-known autonomous navigation based on the traveling distance detected by the traveling distance sensor 2 and the traveling direction detected by the traveling direction sensor 3. Map data storage device 4
Is a device in which road map data is stored in a recording medium such as a CD-ROM. The remote controller 5 is a remote control device for inputting a destination and the like and operating a road map display screen and the like.

The controller 6 includes a CPU 6a, a ROM 6
b, RAM 6c, etc. to search for routes to the destination,
It performs map display control of the display 7, drive control of the speaker 8, and the like. The display 7 displays a guidance route to a destination on a road map and also displays various information. The speaker 8 performs route guidance by voice.

The route recording device 9 is a memory having a battery backup function for retaining the recorded contents even when the key switch of the vehicle is turned off, and records a traveling route from a specific point such as a home or a work place. . Note that the path recording device 9 may be a nonvolatile memory that retains recorded contents even when the power is turned off, or another type of storage device.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a traveling route storing process according to one embodiment. FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining a traveling route recording process. In this embodiment, a home is taken as an example of a specific point that frequently becomes a departure place, and a process of recording a traveling route around the home will be described. The specific point is not limited to the home, but may be, for example, a place of work or a villa. These specific points are set in advance using the remote controller 5. When the main switch of the vehicle route guidance device is turned on, the CPU 6a of the controller 6 starts the traveling route storing process.

In step 1, the current location is a specific location,
Here we check whether it is home. If the current location is not at home, the process ends. On the other hand, if the current location is at home, the process proceeds to step 2 to check whether or not the node has passed. Now, as shown in FIG. 3, it is assumed that the vehicle departs from the departure point node 1 near the home and travels along the route 1 → 2 → 3 → 4.

After leaving the departure point node 1 near home,
After passing through the first node 2, the process proceeds to step 3, where the shortest distance or the shortest optimal route from the departure point node 1 to the passing node 2 is calculated based on the road map data.
Note that this route calculation method uses a well-known calculation method such as the Dijkstra method. It is determined whether the calculated route is equal to the route actually traveled from the departure node 1 to the passing node 2. Here, the actual traveling route is temporarily stored in the RAM 6c of the controller 6. If the calculated route and the actual traveling route are the same route, the process returns to step 2 and repeats the above processing after passing through the next node.

The processing of steps 2 to 3 will be described with reference to FIG. 3. From the departure point node 1 near the home to the node 4, the calculated route from the home matches the actual travel route. However, when passing through the next node 6, the calculation route becomes the shortest route of nodes 1 → 5 → 6, whereas the actual traveling route is nodes 1 → 2 → 3 → 4 → 6. The actual traveling route does not match.

If there is a discrepancy between the calculated route and the actual travel route after passing through the node, the process proceeds to step 4 and the travel route (= calculation route) from the home to the immediately preceding node is set as a record route candidate. . In FIG. 3, since the calculated route and the traveling route match after passing through the node 6, the traveling route 1 → 2 → 3 → 4 to the node 4 which has passed immediately before is set as a recording route candidate. The travel route 1 → 2 → 3 → 4 to the immediately preceding node 4 is the same route as the calculation route. By the processing of steps 3 and 4, the recording capacity of the path recording device 9 can be reduced.

In the following step 5, it is confirmed whether or not the recording route candidate has already been recorded in the route recording device 9, and if it has been recorded, the process is terminated. On the other hand, if the recording route candidates have not been recorded in the route recording device 9 yet, the process proceeds to step 6, and it is confirmed whether or not five routes have already been recorded in the route recording device 9.

Although there are many routes that depart from a specific point such as a home or a work place, recording all the routes requires a large-capacity route recording device 9, which is uneconomical. Usually, among the routes that depart from these specific points, routes that are frequently used are narrowed down to several locations. Therefore, in this embodiment, an example will be described in which a maximum of five routes are recorded for each specific point such as a home or work place. Note that the number of recording routes for each specific point is not limited to this embodiment.

If five routes have already been recorded in step 6, the process proceeds to step 7, and the oldest recorded route among the five routes recorded in the route recording device 9 is erased. Then, in step 8, the above-described recording path candidates are recorded in the path recording device 9. On the other hand, if the number of routes recorded in the route recording device 9 is less than five in step 6, the process proceeds to step 8, and the above-described recording route candidates are recorded in the route recording device 9.

By the above-described processing, for each specific point such as a home or a work place, up to five latest routes centering on the specific point can be recorded.

Here, the route may be recorded in the form of information relating to all nodes and links of the route 1 → 2 → 3 → 4 as shown in FIG. Only the information on the end node 4 may be recorded. In the latter case, if the route from the recorded end node 4 to the departure node 1 near the specific point is calculated, the route 1 →
Since 2 → 3 → 4 can be reproduced, it is troublesome to recalculate the path when using the recording path, but the storage capacity of the path recording device 9 can be reduced.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a path calculation process using a recording path according to one embodiment. FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining a path calculation process using a recording path. In this embodiment, a home is taken as an example of a specific point that frequently becomes a departure place, and a process of calculating a route from the home to the destination will be described. The specific point is not limited to the home, but may be, for example, a place of work or a villa. The CPU 6a of the controller 6 executes this processing when the path calculation mode using the recording path is set by the remote controller 5.

In step 11, it is determined whether the current location is a specific location, here, a home. If the current location is not at home, the process ends. On the other hand, if the current location is at home, the process proceeds to step 12, and it is confirmed whether the remote controller 5 has set the destination. If the destination is not set, the process ends. On the other hand, when the destination has been set, the process proceeds to step 13 and one of the routes recorded in the route recording device 9 is read.

Now, as shown in FIG. 5, the route recording device 9 stores 5 nodes from the departure point node near the home to the end nodes 1 to 5.
It is assumed that the number of paths has been recorded, and the recording path to the end node 1 has been read out of them. The shortest distance or the shortest optimal route from the end node of the route read in step 14 to the destination is calculated.
The route from home to the destination is obtained by connecting the recording route read in step 4 with the newly calculated route from the end node to the destination. This route calculation is performed by a well-known calculation method such as the Dijkstra method. In the example shown in FIG. 5, a calculated path from the end node 1 to the destination is obtained, and a path from the home to the destination using the recording path from the end node 1 is obtained.

Next, at step 16, it is confirmed whether or not there is an unprocessed route in the route recording device 9. If there is an unprocessed route, the process returns to step 13 to use the unprocessed recording route in the above-described procedure. The route to the destination is calculated. On the other hand, if the route calculation processing has been completed for all the routes recorded in the route recording device 9, the process proceeds to step 17, and the shortest distance route is selected from the route from the home to the destination in the route calculation result. I do. Note that the shortest route may be selected. In the example shown in FIG. 5, five routes from the home to the destination using five recording routes from the departure node to the end nodes 1 to 5 are obtained, and the shortest one of the routes is obtained from the routes. A route from home to the destination via node 2 is selected.

The route from the selected home to the destination is
The route is superimposed and displayed on the road map of the display 7 as a guidance route.

As described above, according to this embodiment,
Automatically records a predetermined number of frequently used routes from specific locations such as homes and workplaces where departures are frequently made,
Since the route to the destination is calculated using this recorded route, the optimal route to the destination is determined by using the route that the driver likes, the route that the driver is accustomed to, or the route that is convenient. The route can be calculated.

Further, according to this embodiment, since a predetermined number of the latest routes are recorded, it is possible to cope with changes in the road environment and changes in the driving purpose of the driver.

Further, in this embodiment, since a plurality of paths are recorded so that a part of the recording paths does not overlap each other, the recording capacity of the path recording device 9 can be reduced.

According to the route calculation to the destination using the recording route according to this embodiment, even if there are a plurality of routes departing from a specific point such as a home, only a specific one of the routes must be used. If no other route is recorded, a route to a destination using a specific route is calculated.

More specifically, referring to FIG. 3, the route from home to node 8 is route 1 → 2 → 3 → 4 → 6
Since there are → 7 → 8 and path 1 → 5 → 6 → 7 → 8, the recording path candidates may be path 1 → 2 → 3 → 4 and path 1 → 5. However, if the driver always prefers the former route only for reasons such as the width of the road, the degree of traffic congestion, and the scenery around the road, the route recording device 9 stores the former recording route candidates 1 → 2 → 3. → Only 4 is recorded. Therefore, when the route calculation to the destination 8 using the above-described recording route is performed, the former recording route 1 → 2 →
Route 1 → 2 → from home to destination 8 using 3 → 4
3 → 4 → 6 → 7 → 8 is selected as the guidance route, and the preference and familiarity of the occupant can be reflected in the route calculation.

<< Modification of One Embodiment of the Invention >> A description will be given of a modification in which a route within a predetermined range centering on a specific point is recorded. In this modification, only a part of the traveling route recording process (see FIG. 2) of the above-described embodiment is different, and therefore, a description will be given focusing on differences from the embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a modification of the traveling route recording process. In step 3 'after passing through the node, it is checked whether the passing node is within a predetermined distance from the house. If it is within the predetermined distance, the process returns to step 2; In step 4 ', the traveling route from the home to the passing node is set as a recording route candidate.

According to the route recording method of this modification, since the recording routes may partially overlap each other, the storage capacity of the route recording device 9 increases by that much. A route that is within a distance can be recorded, which is a recording method that is easy for the driver to understand. Also, when calculating a route to a destination using such a recorded route, the recorded route and the subsequent calculated route The driver can easily understand the distance relationship and the positional relationship with the vehicle.

<< Other Modifications >> In the above-described embodiment, an example in which the latest five routes are recorded has been described. However, if the vehicle frequently travels from a specific point to the same area, as shown in FIG. Only the route toward the destination is recorded, and if a route to the destination in the opposite direction is calculated using such a recorded route, a detour route will be calculated.

Therefore, in this modified example, in order to record the route from the specific point to each direction evenly, as shown in FIG. 8, the radiation direction from the specific point is divided into five parts, and each of the divisional areas [1] to [1] 5], one path is recorded.

Note that the number of divisions in the radial direction is not limited to five, and the number of recorded paths for each division is not limited to one. Many routes may be recorded in the frequently operated division area.

In addition, when a specific point such as a home or a work place is near the shore or lake, or when the specific point is near a railway or an expressway and the traveling in a certain direction from the specific point is restricted. In this case, the radiation direction that can travel from a specific point may be divided into an appropriate number.

This modification is different from the above-described embodiment only in part of the travel route recording process (see FIG. 2), and therefore the description will focus on the differences from the embodiment. FIG.
9 is a flowchart illustrating a modified example of the traveling route recording process. After confirming that the same route as the recording route candidate has not been recorded in the route recording device 9, in step 6 ′, it is determined whether or not the route has already been recorded in the direction including the recording route candidate of the route recording device 9. Confirm. If the route has already been recorded in that direction, the process proceeds to step 7 ', where the recorded route is deleted, and the process proceeds to step 8. On the other hand, if no route is recorded in that direction, the process proceeds to step S8.

As described above, according to the route recording method of this modified example, the radiation direction from a specific point such as a home or a work place is divided into a predetermined number, and the route is recorded for each divided area. It is possible to record a route from a specific point to each direction evenly, and even if a destination is set in any direction, it is possible to calculate an optimum route using the recording route in that direction.

When a recording route is not recorded in all the divided directions and a destination is set in a direction where no route is recorded, a recording route in a direction different from the destination local surface is not used. Alternatively, the route from the current position to the destination may be calculated as before.

When recording the travel route, information such as the time traveled, the day of the week, the season, and a specific period such as a tray or a New Year is also recorded, and a specific point using the recorded route to the destination is recorded. When calculating the path, the recording path may be selected in consideration of the information. As a result, it is possible to calculate an optimal route that is not affected by traffic congestion or traffic regulation that occurs during a driving time zone, a day of the week, a season, or a specific period.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating a traveling route recording process according to one embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining a traveling route recording process.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a path calculation process using a recording path according to an embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining path calculation using a recording path.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a modified example of the traveling route recording process.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing that a recording path is offset to a specific direction.

FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining a method of recording a recording path for each direction.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating a process of recording a traveling route for each direction.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 1 GPS receiver 2 Mileage sensor 3 Heading sensor 4 Map data storage device 5 Remote controller 6 Controller 6a CPU 6b ROM 6c RAM 7 Display 8 Speaker 9 Route recording device

Continued on the front page F-term (reference) 2C032 HC08 HD16 HD26 2F029 AA02 AB07 AB13 AC02 AC08 AC09 AC14 AC20 5H180 AA01 FF05 FF10 FF17 FF22 FF27 FF32

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A route recording means for recording a route that actually travels starting from a specific point; a route calculating means for calculating a guidance route from the specific point to a destination using the recorded route; Display means for displaying a route on a road map. 2. The vehicle route guidance device according to claim 1, wherein said route recording means records a plurality of routes that do not overlap each other. 3. The vehicle route guidance device according to claim 1, wherein said route recording means records a route within a predetermined range centered on said specific point. 4. The vehicle route guidance device according to claim 1, wherein said route recording means records a predetermined number of latest routes. 5. The route guidance device for a vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the route recording unit is configured to determine a route to a point where an actual traveling route from the specific point coincides with a calculated route from the specific point. A route guidance device for a vehicle, characterized by recording the following. 6. The route guidance device for a vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the route recording unit divides a radiation direction from the specific point into a predetermined number of regions, and defines at least one route for each region. A route guidance device for a vehicle characterized by recording. 7. The vehicle route guidance device according to claim 1, wherein said route calculation means, when a plurality of routes from said specific point to said destination are calculated, a shortest one of said routes. A route guidance device for a vehicle, wherein the route is a guidance route.