JP2005016987A - Navigation apparatus and program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a navigation apparatus for allowing a user to easily know the expected arrival time, or the like at an arbitrary point on a guided route. <P>SOLUTION: When a user specifies a point on the guided route, a route from a current position to the specified point is extracted from the guided route (S130). Then, the expected time required for passing the extracted route is calculated (S135) and is added to the current time, so that the expected arrival time is calculated for reporting (S140, S150). Accordingly, the user can determine the expected arrival time at an arbitrary point on the guided route, without having the navigation apparatus recalculate the guided route, by specifying a point whose expected arrival time should be determined, as in the conventional navigation apparatuses, and registering the specified point in the navigation apparatus as places which are passed through, thus reducing the user's labor. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a navigation device or the like capable of executing route guidance.
[0002]
[Prior art]
Conventionally, various navigation devices have been developed. One of the functions of the navigation device is a function for guiding a route. This guides the calculated route by calculating a route from the current location to a destination point via a transit point set by the user and displaying a map or outputting a voice. As an additional function of the function of guiding the route, there is a function of displaying a predicted arrival time of a destination point or a waypoint (for example, Patent Document 1).
[0003]
[Patent Document 1]
JP-A-9-243382 [0004]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
As described above, according to the conventional technology, it is possible to display the predicted arrival time of the destination point and the waypoint set in advance by the user before the navigation device guides the route. However, for example, while a route is being routed as if the user thought, “What time is the predicted arrival time of this intersection on the guide route?” While driving, predicting an arbitrary point on the guide route The arrival time could not be displayed immediately. If the user wants to know the predicted arrival time, specify the point where the user wants to know the predicted arrival time, register the specified point in the navigation device as a transit point, and let the navigation device calculate the guidance route again. It was necessary to follow the procedure. However, it is complicated to take such a procedure, and it is difficult for the driver to operate while driving.
[0005]
The present invention has been made in view of such problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a navigation device that allows a user to easily know the expected arrival time at an arbitrary point on a guide route.
[0006]
[Means for Solving the Problems and Effects of the Invention]
The navigation device according to claim 1, which has been made to solve the above-described problem, acquires information for receiving information from a user, notification means for notifying the user of information, and information for specifying the current position. Current position information acquisition means, and a current position based on the information acquired by the current position information acquisition means and a point on the guide route based on the information received by the reception means, from the current position to the point Control means for calculating an expected arrival time when the navigation device arrives, and causing the notification means to notify the calculated expected arrival time.
[0007]
If it is such a navigation device, the point where the expected arrival time is to be known is specified as in the conventional navigation device, the specified point is registered in the navigation device as a via point, and the guidance route is calculated again in the navigation device. The user can know the expected arrival time at an arbitrary point on the guidance route during route guidance without taking the steps of making it happen. Therefore, the user's operation is less troublesome.
[0008]
By the way, not only the expected arrival time but also the time required to reach the point designated by the user may be notified. That is, as in the navigation device according to claim 2, the expected time required for the navigation device to reach the point specified based on the information received by the receiving device from the current position of the navigation device. It is good to make it alert | report to an alerting | reporting means with expected arrival time computed.
[0009]
In this way, even if the user does not subtract the current time from the expected arrival time, the user can instantly know how long the designated point will be reached, which is convenient.
This notification may be made at any time as in the navigation device according to claim 3. Of course, this notification is made by recalculating the time each time the position of the navigation device changes.
[0010]
In this way, if the time required to reach the designated point is notified at any time, every time the user wants to know, before reaching the designated point without specifying the point again Since it is possible to know the required time, it is convenient for the user.
[0011]
In addition, the distance from the current position to the designated point may be reported as in the navigation device described in claim 4. In this way, the user can quickly see how far away he will reach the specified point.
[0012]
Moreover, this notification is good to be made at any time like the navigation apparatus of Claim 5. This notification is of course notified by recalculating the distance each time the position of the navigation device changes.
As described above, when the distance to the designated point is notified at any time, the user can know the distance to the designated point without designating the point each time the user wants to know.
[0013]
By the way, the expected time required to reach the designated point from the current position may be calculated and notified independently of the estimated arrival time. That is, as in the navigation device according to claim 6, the receiving means for receiving information from the user, the notifying means for notifying the user of information, and the current position information acquisition for acquiring information for specifying the current position And a location on the guide route based on the information received by the accepting means, and the navigation device reaches the point from the current location. And a control unit that calculates the expected required time required until the notification and notifies the calculated expected time to the notification unit.
[0014]
If this is the case, the user designates a point where the user wants to know the expected required time, registers the designated point as a transit point in the navigation device, and further takes the procedure of causing the navigation device to calculate the guidance route again. Instead, the user can know the expected time required to reach any point on the guidance route from the current position during route guidance. Therefore, the user's operation is less troublesome.
[0015]
In addition, the distance from the current position to the designated point may be calculated and notified independently of the estimated arrival time, not with it. That is, as in the navigation device according to claim 7, the receiving means for receiving information from the user, the notifying means for notifying the user of information, and the current position information acquisition for acquiring information for specifying the current position And a point on the guide route based on the information received by the receiving unit and the position received from the current position information acquiring unit, and a distance from the current position to the point is calculated. And a control unit that informs the calculated distance to the notification unit.
[0016]
If this is the case, the user designates a point where the user wants to know the distance from the current position, registers the designated point in the navigation device as a transit point, and causes the navigation device to calculate the guidance route again. Without following the procedure, the user can know the distance from the current position to any point on the guidance route during route guidance. Therefore, the user's operation is less troublesome.
[0017]
By the way, as a specific mechanism for designating a point where the user wants to know the expected arrival time or the like, for example, a navigation device according to claim 8 can be considered. In this navigation device, at least one of the notifying means has a display function for displaying a guide route, and the accepting means is on the notifying means pressed by a user's finger on the guide route displayed on the notifying means. Information about the place is accepted. This information is information relating to positions corresponding to display dots that constitute such a notification means, for example. And a control means pinpoints the point on a guidance route based on such information which the reception means received.
[0018]
With a navigation device having such a mechanism, the user can intuitively and easily specify a place where the user wants to know the expected arrival time and the like.
Further, as another mechanism for designating a point where the user wants to know the expected arrival time or the like, for example, a navigation device according to claim 9 can be considered. In this navigation device, at least one of the notifying means has a display function for displaying a guide route, and the accepting means has a cursor movement key for moving a cursor indicating a point on the guide route displayed on the notifying means, and And a determination key for determining a cursor position, and receives information related to the cursor position determined by the cursor movement key and the determination key. This information is information relating to positions corresponding to display dots that constitute such a notification means, for example. And a control means pinpoints the point on a guidance route based on such information which the alerting | reporting means received.
[0019]
Even in a navigation apparatus having such a mechanism, the user can easily specify a place where the user wants to know the expected arrival time and the like.
By the way, the location specified by the user may be on an intersection on the guide route or on a road other than the intersection, but in many cases, the user expects the location to add something to the location. You may want to know the arrival time. In many cases, such a place to be used is a facility rather than an intersection or road.
[0020]
For this reason, as in the navigation device according to claim 10, the point specified based on the information received by the receiving unit may be a point where an adjacent facility exists on the guide route. As the facility, for example, a service area, a convenience store, a public facility, and the like can be considered. If the facility is designated in this way, the user can easily designate the target point, and if the facility is actually used, it is based on the intersection or on the road. Thus, it is possible to know the predicted arrival time and the like that are more accurate than the calculation.
[0021]
Moreover, even if it is made to run the program which functions as a control means of the navigation apparatus in any one of Claims 1-10 as described in Claim 11 in the computer with which a navigation apparatus is incorporated. Good. In this case, for example, the program is recorded on a computer-readable recording medium such as a flexible disk, a magneto-optical disk, a CD-ROM, a hard disk, a ROM, and a RAM, and the program is stored in the computer as necessary. When loaded and activated, the computer can function as the control means of the navigation device of the present invention (the invention according to any one of claims 1 to 10). Further, since the program can be distributed using a network, the function of the navigation device can be easily improved.
[0022]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Embodiments to which the present invention is applied will be described below with reference to the drawings. 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.
[0023]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of a navigation device 20 according to the embodiment. The navigation device 20 is mounted on a vehicle, and a position detector 21 that detects the current position of the vehicle, an operation switch group 22 for inputting various instructions from a user, and various instructions can be input in the same manner as the operation switch group 22. The remote control terminal (hereinafter referred to as a remote controller) 23a that is separate from the navigation device 20, the remote control sensor 23b that inputs a signal from the remote control 23a, and information from a device other than the navigation device 20 are provided. An external information input / output unit 24 capable of inputting and outputting information to another device, a map data input unit 25 for inputting map data and the like from an external storage medium storing map data and various types of information, and the like A display unit 26 for displaying a map and various information, a voice output unit 27 for outputting various guide voices, etc. Various processes are executed according to the input from the position detector 21, the operation switch group 22, the remote control sensor 23b, the external information input / output unit 24, and the map data input unit 25, the external information input / output unit 24, the display unit 26, and the sound. And a control circuit 29 for controlling the output unit 27.
[0024]
The position detector 21 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 21a that detects the position, direction, speed, etc. of the vehicle. A gyroscope 21b for detecting the magnitude of the rotational motion, a distance sensor 21c for detecting the distance traveled from the longitudinal acceleration of the vehicle, and the like, and a geomagnetic sensor 21d for detecting the traveling direction from the geomagnetism are provided. Yes. Each of the sensors 21a to 21d has an error having a different property, and is configured to be used while complementing each other.
[0025]
As the operation switch group 22, a touch panel installed on the display screen and a mechanical key switch provided around the display unit 26 are used. The touch panel and the display unit 26 are laminated and integrated. There are various types of touch panels such as a pressure-sensitive method, an electromagnetic induction method, a capacitance method, or a combination of these methods. It may be used.
[0026]
The external information input / output unit 24 is connected to an antenna (not shown) and receives traffic information from a VICS center (not shown) via the antenna. The received traffic information is sent to the control circuit 29 and used when setting a guide route.
The map data input device 25 is a device for inputting various data stored in a storage medium (not shown). The storage medium stores map data (road shape data, road width data, road regulation data, terrain data, mark data, intersection data, facility data, etc.), voice data, voice recognition data, and the like. . As an actual recording medium, a CD-ROM or DVD is generally used because of the amount of data, but another medium such as a magnetic storage device such as a hard disk or a memory card may be used.
[0027]
The display unit 26 is a color display device such as a liquid crystal display, an organic EL display, or a CRT, and any of them may be used. The display screen of the display unit 26 includes a mark indicating the current location identified from the current position of the vehicle detected by the position detector 21 and the map data input from the map data input device 25, a guidance route to the destination, and a name. Additional data such as landmarks and various facility marks can be displayed in an overlapping manner. Also, facility guides can be displayed.
[0028]
The voice output unit 27 can output facility guidance and various guidance voices input from the map data input device 25, and traffic information reading voice received via the external information input / output unit 24.
The microphone 28 outputs an electric signal based on the inputted voice when the user inputs (speaks) the voice. The user can operate the navigation device 20 by inputting various sounds to the microphone 28.
[0029]
The control circuit 29 is configured around a well-known microcomputer including a CPU, ROM, RAM, I / O and a bus line connecting these components, and various control circuits 29 are based on programs stored in the ROM and RAM. Execute the process. For example, the current position of the vehicle is calculated as a set of coordinates and traveling directions based on each detection signal from the position detector 21, and a map or the like near the current position read via the map data input device 25 is displayed on the display unit 26. Based on the display processing to be performed, the point data stored in the map data input device 25, and the destination set according to the operation of the operation switch group 22, the remote controller 23a, etc., the optimum route from the current position to the destination is determined. The route guidance process etc. which calculate and guide the calculated route are performed.
[0030]
The schematic configuration of the navigation device 20 has been described so far, but correspondence between each part of the navigation device 20 and the terms described in the claims is shown. The control circuit 29 corresponds to control means, the operation switch group 22, the remote controller 23a, and the microphone 28 correspond to reception means, the display unit 26 corresponds to notification means and display means, and the audio output unit 27 corresponds to notification means. .
[0031]
Next, the expected arrival time display process executed by the control circuit 29 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. The expected arrival time display process is performed when the user moves the cursor displayed on the display unit 26 by operating the operation switch group 22 or the remote controller 23a and determines the cursor position during execution of the route guidance process described above. To be executed. The manner of movement of the cursor and determination of the cursor position will be described later using a screen example.
[0032]
When the expected arrival time display processing is started, first, the position of the cursor displayed on the display unit 26, which is determined by the user by operating the operation switch group 22 or the remote controller 23a, is displayed on the display unit 26. The process branches depending on whether or not the line is on the route (S110). If the cursor is not on the line representing the guidance route displayed on the display unit 26, it is displayed on the display unit 26 that the cursor is not on the guidance route (S155), and this process (expected arrival time display process) is terminated.
[0033]
On the other hand, if the cursor is on the line representing the guidance route displayed on the display unit 26, it is determined whether or not there is a facility on the guidance route line near the position represented by the cursor (for example, within a radius of 50 m) (S115). ). The facilities mentioned here are service areas, convenience stores, public facilities, and the like. This determination is performed using map data input from a storage medium via the map data input device 25. If there is a facility in the vicinity of the position indicated by the cursor, the facility is listed and displayed on the display unit 26 to be selected by the user (S120). If there is only one facility, whether or not to select that facility is displayed on the display unit 26 and the user is allowed to select. When the user selects a facility, the position of the selected facility is designated as a designated point (S125).
[0034]
On the other hand, if there is no facility near the position represented by the cursor (S115: N), the position represented by the cursor is set as the designated point (S160).
When the designated point is set, the route from the current vehicle position to the designated point is extracted from the routes calculated by the route guidance process (S130). This is because, for example, the route calculated in the route guidance process is link 1 → link 2 → link 3 → link 4 → link 5 → link 6 → link 7 → link 8 and the current position is at the boundary between link 2 and link 3. If the designated point is the boundary between link 6 and link 7, link 3 → link 4 → link 5 → link 6 is extracted. When the position of the selected facility is out of the route calculated by the route guidance process, the rear end of the extracted link string is slightly modified.
[0035]
Then, the time required for passing through the extracted route (expected required time) is calculated (S135). This is calculated by obtaining the time required to pass each link from the link length and the assumed vehicle speed of each link of the extracted route, and summing the times obtained for each link. In the above example, the time required to pass through link 3, the time required to pass through link 4, the time required to pass through link 5, and the time required to pass through link 6 Are added together to calculate the expected required time.
[0036]
Subsequently, the time to reach the designated point is calculated by adding the calculated expected time required to the current time (S140). When calculated, the time is displayed on the display unit 26 and the sound output unit 27 outputs a sound (S150), and this process (expected arrival time display process) is terminated.
[0037]
Next, screens related to the expected arrival time display processing displayed on the display unit 26 will be described using the screen examples of FIGS.
(1) Screen Example for Determining Cursor Position Screen 51 in FIG. 3 is displayed when the user moves cursor 55 or determines the position of cursor 55 by operating operation switch group 22 or remote controller 23a. 7 is an example of a screen displayed on a unit 26. The cursor 55 is scrolled in four directions, east, west, north, and south, by operating a cursor movement key (not shown) of the remote controller 23a. Even if the map is scrolled, the cursor 55 is always located at the center of the display unit 26. Further, when the user touches the cursor movement marks 55a, 55b, 55c, and 55d displayed on the display unit 26 with a finger, the map is scrolled in four directions of north, east, south, and west, respectively. Even if the map is scrolled in this way, the cursor 55 is positioned at the center of the display unit 26. As another example, the cursor 55 may be movable only on the guide route 53, that is, may be movable only in the current position direction and the destination point direction along the guide route 53.
[0038]
When the user moves the cursor 55 to a desired point on the guide route 53, the position of the cursor 55 is determined by directly pressing the determination button 57 with a finger or pressing the determination key of the remote controller 23a. When the position of the cursor 55 is determined, the expected arrival time display process described above is started.
[0039]
(2) Screen example for selecting whether or not to select a facility The screen 61 in FIG. 4 is a screen for a step (see S120 in FIG. 2) that allows the user to select whether or not to select a facility in the expected arrival time display process. It is an example. In this screen example, the message window 63 has “Michi no Eki” on the nearby route. Do you want to make "Michi no Eki" a designated point? ”Is displayed, and a button 65 written“ Yes ”and a button 67 written“ No ”are displayed below the message.
[0040]
Here, when the user directly presses the button 65 marked “Yes” with a finger or presses the key for confirming “Yes” on the remote controller 23a, the location of the road station is designated as a designated point ( (See S125 in FIG. 2). On the other hand, when the user directly presses the button 67 written “No” with a finger or presses a key for confirming “No” on the remote controller 23a, the initial cursor position is set as the designated point.
[0041]
If there are a plurality of facilities near the initial cursor position, one of the facilities can be selected.
(3) Screen Example for Displaying Expected Arrival Time The screen 71 in FIG. 5 is a screen displayed when the calculated expected arrival time is displayed on the display unit 26 in the expected arrival time display process (see S150 in FIG. 2). It is an example. In this screen example, the window 77 pops up on the screen and indicates the expected time to reach the position indicated by the cursor 75. The navigation device 20 according to the present embodiment is configured to display such a screen 71 on the display unit 26 and to cause the audio output unit 27 to output the contents of the window 77 of the screen 71 as audio.
[0042]
As described above, according to the navigation device 20 of the present embodiment, the user designates a point where the user wants to know the expected arrival time as in the conventional navigation device, registers the designated point as a waypoint in the navigation device, and again The user can know the expected arrival time at any point on the guide route during route guidance without taking the procedure of causing the navigation device to calculate the guide route. Therefore, the user has little trouble. Further, since the navigation device 20 does not search for all the guidance routes again when calculating the predicted arrival time, the amount of calculation is small.
[0043]
In addition, if there is a facility near the point specified by the user on the guidance route, the facility's location is handled as the designated point by the user's selection. If it is a desired point, the point can be easily specified, and the user can know the predicted expected arrival time more accurately than the calculation based on the intersection or on the road.
[0044]
Other embodiments will be described below.
(B) In the above embodiment, first, the expected required time required to reach the specified point is calculated from the link length (that is, distance) from the current position to the specified point and the assumed vehicle speed, and the expected required time and the current time are calculated. Thus, the expected arrival time is calculated and notified. Thus, since the distance from the current position to the designated point and the estimated necessary time required to reach the designated point from the current position are also calculated, these may also be notified. Further, only the distance from the current position to the designated point and the expected required time required to reach the designated point from the current position may be notified. In this case, it is not necessary to calculate until the expected arrival time, and it is only necessary to calculate only the information to be notified.
[0045]
(B) As described in (b) above, when notifying the distance from the current position to the designated point and the expected time required to reach the designated point from the current position, the designated point is reached. It is good to notify appropriately (for example, every 10 minutes, every 5 km, or when turning right or left). If this is the case, the user is informed of the distance from the current position to the designated point and the expected time without being consciously operated, which is convenient.
[0046]
(C) In the above embodiment, the navigation apparatus mounted on the vehicle has been described as an example. However, the present invention may be applied to a portable terminal such as a mobile phone or a PDA having a route guidance function. The same effect can be obtained by applying to these.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a navigation device according to an embodiment.
FIG. 2 is a flowchart for explaining expected arrival time display processing;
FIG. 3 is an example of a screen when determining the position of a cursor.
FIG. 4 is an example of a screen for selecting whether or not to select a facility.
FIG. 5 is an example of a screen that displays an estimated arrival time.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 20 ... Navigation apparatus, 21 ... Position detector, 21a ... GPS receiver, 21b ... Gyroscope, 21c ... Distance sensor, 21d ... Geomagnetic sensor, 22 ... Operation switch group, 23a ... Remote control, 23b ... Remote control sensor, 24 ... External Information input / output unit, 25 ... map data input device, 26 ... display unit, 27 ... voice output unit, 28 ... microphone, 29 ... control circuit.

Claims (11)

A navigation device that executes guidance according to a guidance route,
A receiving means for receiving information from the user;
An informing means for informing the user of information;
Current position information acquisition means for acquiring information for specifying the current position;
Based on the information acquired by the current position information acquisition means, the current position is specified, and a point on the guide route is specified based on the information received by the reception means, and the navigation device is moved from the current position to the point. A control means for calculating an expected arrival time when the vehicle arrives and notifying the notification means of the calculated estimated arrival time;
A navigation device comprising: The navigation device according to claim 1, wherein
The control means calculates an expected required time required for the navigation device to reach the point specified based on information received by the receiving means from a current position of the navigation device, and calculates the estimated required time. A navigation device characterized in that the notification means is notified together with the expected arrival time. The navigation device according to claim 2, wherein
The said control means makes the said notification means notify the said required required time according to the present position of the said navigation apparatus at any time until the said navigation apparatus reaches the said point, The navigation apparatus characterized by the above-mentioned. In the navigation apparatus in any one of Claims 1-3,
The control unit calculates a distance from the current position of the navigation device to the point specified based on the information received by the reception unit, and causes the notification unit to notify the calculated distance together with the predicted arrival time. A navigation device characterized by that. The navigation device according to claim 4, wherein
The said control means makes the said notification means notify the said distance according to the present position of the said navigation apparatus at any time until the said navigation apparatus reaches the said point, The navigation apparatus characterized by the above-mentioned. A navigation device that executes guidance according to a guidance route,
A receiving means for receiving information from the user;
An informing means for informing the user of information;
Current position information acquisition means for acquiring information for specifying the current position;
Based on the information acquired by the current position information acquisition means, the current position is specified, and a point on the guide route is specified based on the information received by the reception means, and the navigation device is moved from the current position to the point. Control means for calculating the required time required for the time to reach, and causing the notification means to notify the calculated required time,
A navigation device comprising: A navigation device that executes guidance according to a guidance route,
A receiving means for receiving information from the user;
An informing means for informing the user of information;
Current position information acquisition means for acquiring information for specifying the current position;
A current position is specified based on the information acquired by the current position information acquisition means, and a point on the guide route is specified based on the information received by the reception means, and a distance from the current position to the point is determined. Control means for calculating and notifying the notifying means of the calculated distance;
A navigation device comprising: In the navigation apparatus in any one of Claims 1-7,
At least one of the notification means has a display function for displaying the guide route,
The navigation device according to claim 1, wherein the receiving unit receives information related to a location on the notifying unit pressed by a user's finger on the guide route displayed on the notifying unit having a display function. In the navigation apparatus in any one of Claims 1-7,
At least one of the notification means has a display function for displaying the guide route,
The accepting means has a cursor movement key for moving a cursor pointing to a point on the guide route displayed on the notification means having a display function, and a determination key for determining the cursor position; A navigation device that receives information related to a cursor position determined by the determination key. The navigation device according to any one of claims 1 to 9,
The navigation apparatus characterized in that the point specified by the control unit based on the information received by the receiving unit is a point where an adjacent facility exists on the guide route. The program for functioning a computer as the said control means of the navigation apparatus in any one of Claims 1-10.

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