JP3058396B2 - Route guidance device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a route guidance device for guiding a driver to a destination according to a recommended route indicating a route from a current location to a destination.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, this type of apparatus is disclosed in
No. 297 has been proposed. In this proposal, the accumulated mileage from the departure intersection to the current position is obtained, the remaining mileage from the current position to the destination is obtained by subtracting the accumulated mileage from the total mileage of the traveling route, and the guidance is provided to the driver. .

[0003]

With this proposal, the driver can know the remaining mileage to the destination and can also make corrections to make the remaining mileage closer to the true mileage. For the following reasons, there is still room for improvement in that an error occurs between the calculated remaining traveling distance and the actual remaining traveling distance.

(1) A route guidance device (referred to as a route guidance device in the present specification) recalculates the remaining traveling distance every time the vehicle passes through an intersection to correct the remaining traveling distance. For this reason, when the vehicle travels on a road with few intersections or junctions, the correction interval of the remaining travel distance becomes long. In other words, immediately after passing the intersection, the error in the remaining travel distance is small. However, the error increases until approaching the next intersection. For example, when a vehicle goes off the route to a service area or the like and travels in the service area, the travel distance during this time is included in the integrated travel distance. As a result, conventionally, in this type of apparatus, the remaining traveling distance to be guided tends to be smaller than the true remaining traveling distance.

In view of the above, an object of the present invention is to provide a route guidance apparatus that further reduces the error in the remaining traveling distance to be guided.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, an invention according to a first aspect of the present invention is directed to a route guidance apparatus for guiding a recommended route to a destination, wherein a vehicle travels along the recommended route. Recommended route travel determining means for determining that the vehicle is traveling, a remaining travel distance calculating means for calculating the remaining travel distance of the vehicle on the recommended route from the current position to the destination, and displaying the calculated remaining travel distance on a screen or Guidance means for guiding by voice, and when it is determined by the recommended route travel determination means that the vehicle is traveling on the recommended route, the remaining travel distance calculation means, from the current location, , The interpolation in the middle until the end point of the link that the vehicle is following
A distance connected by a straight line via a point, a distance from a link start point closest to the destination to a destination on the link, and a length of a plurality of links between the link end point and the link start point. Are summed.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a route guidance apparatus for guiding a recommended route to a destination, a recommended route traveling determining means for determining that the vehicle is traveling on the recommended route, and A remaining travel distance calculating means for calculating the remaining travel distance of the vehicle on the recommended route to the ground, and a guide means for guiding the calculated remaining travel distance on a screen or by voice, and wherein the vehicle is When it is determined by the recommended route traveling determination unit that the vehicle is traveling on the recommended route, the remaining traveling distance calculation unit determines whether the vehicle is traveling at the current location.
The distance to the link end point that the vehicle is currently following,
From the link start point closest to the destination on the link
Distance connected to the destination via a straight line via an interpolation point in the middle
When, characterized by the total child the length of a plurality of links between the link starting point and the link end point.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is further provided a detecting means for detecting that the vehicle has traveled a predetermined distance, and the remaining mileage calculating means executes the calculation in response to the detection of the detecting means. It is characterized by.

The invention according to claim 4 further comprises a time detecting means for detecting that the vehicle has traveled for a predetermined time,
The remaining mileage calculating means executes the calculation in response to the detection by the time detecting means.

[0010] The invention according to claim 5 further comprises a judging means for judging whether or not the traveling position of the vehicle has deviated from the recommended route and then has returned, and the judgment result of the judging means indicates that the vehicle has traveled to the recommended route. When the return is indicated, the remaining mileage calculating means executes the calculation.

The invention according to claim 6 further comprises instruction means for manually instructing the calculation of the remaining mileage, wherein the remaining mileage calculation means executes the calculation in accordance with the instruction of the instruction means. Features.

[0012]

[0013]

According to the first and second aspects of the present invention, the lengths of the links constituting the recommended route are totaled, so that the total result is substantially a true remaining travel distance. In addition, the traveling vehicle
Recommended at any point on the recommended route even if you deviate
When returning to the route, the calculation of the remaining mileage is automatically resumed
You can also.

According to the third to fifth aspects of the present invention, the calculation of the remaining travel distance can be automatically started, and the start timing is not affected by the distance between nodes.

According to the invention of claim 6, the driver can acquire the remaining traveling distance at a desired time.

[0016]

[0017]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. Prior to the description of the present invention, a system configuration of a route guidance device to which the present invention is applied will be described with reference to FIG.

The route guidance device is provided with, as sensors, a distance sensor 2 for detecting the traveling distance of the vehicle and a shift sensor 3 for detecting whether the vehicle is moving forward or backward. These two sensors 2, 3
Is output to the locator 5. Further, a vibration gyro sensor 6 for detecting a turning angle of the vehicle is provided, and a detection output of the vibration gyro sensor 6 is also provided to the locator 5.

The locator 5 is for calculating the current position of the vehicle, and calculates the azimuth change amount of the vehicle based on the turning angle of the vehicle detected by the vibration gyro sensor 6.
The moving distance of the vehicle is obtained by taking into account the forward or backward movement of the vehicle given from the shift sensor 3 to the distance detected by the distance sensor 2. Therefore, for example, if accurate initial position data of the vehicle is given to the locator 5 before the vehicle starts moving, the locator 5 calculates the current position of the vehicle thereafter. The case where the vehicle position is determined only in this way is called “free mode”.

The locator 5 calculates travel trajectory data based on the current position data of the vehicle, and based on a comparison between the travel trajectory data and the road pattern stored in the disk D (so-called map matching method). And a function of detecting the road and the vehicle position on the road in consideration of the existence probability of the vehicle. The case where the vehicle position on the road is obtained by the map matching in this way is called a “matching mode”. When performing map matching, the road from which the vehicle position is determined is not always a single road. For example, when roads intersect or are parallel, there may be a plurality of candidate roads. In such a case, the road having the highest pattern similarity is output as the first candidate, but the second and subsequent candidate roads are also stored (see Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 63-148115). Such a case where there are a plurality of candidate roads is referred to as a “temporary return mode”.

Data representing the current position of the vehicle calculated by the locator 5 is provided to a controller 7 which is a control center of the route guidance device. The controller 7
It includes a CPU, a ROM, a RAM, etc., and is connected to the locator 5 and the memory drive 8 described above.
A display device 12 such as T (cathode ray tube display device) and a remote control key 13 are connected. The controller 7 controls the memory drive 8 based on the current position data of the vehicle calculated by the locator 5 and the like. The memory drive 8 reads display road map data corresponding to the current position of the vehicle from the disk D loaded in advance in response to a control signal given from the controller 7 and outputs the read road map data to the controller 7. The controller 7 gives the current position data calculated by the locator 5 and the road map data for display given from the memory drive 8 to the display device 12 to generate a map and other vehicle current position marks on the diagram, and display them. Let it. In addition, a guidance message is sent to the voice output device 18 to perform voice guidance.

In response to a control signal given from the controller 7, the memory drive 8 reads path calculation link data for path calculation from the disk D loaded in advance, and outputs the link data to the controller 7. The controller 7 calculates an optimal route (recommended route) from the current position to the destination, obtains coordinates on a road map, and displays the optimal route. The voice output device 18 outputs a message related to route guidance in voice.

The link data for route calculation is obtained by dividing a road map (including highway national roads, motorways, national roads, prefectural roads, city roads of designated cities, and other living roads) into meshes. Data composed of combinations of nodes and links are stored in units.

Here, a node is generally a coordinate point for specifying a road intersection, a road bending point, a mesh boundary, a dead end point, and the like.

What connects the nodes is a link.
The link data includes the link number, the address of the start node and the end node of the link, the distance of the link, the direction of passing through the link, the required time in that direction, the type or type of road, the road width, one-way traffic, right turn prohibition, left turn prohibition, Includes data such as toll roads.

The controller 7 is further connected to a beacon receiver 17. The beacon receiver 17 is for receiving data such as position information and road information (intersection name, destination guidance) radiated from a beacon antenna installed on a road side of a road or the like. Beacon receiver 1
The beacon data received at 7 is given to the controller 7 and finally displayed on the display device 12 to display the beacon information to the driver.

As an optional device, a locator 5
Is connected to a GPS receiver 19. GPS receiver 1
When the device 9 is provided, a signal from a GPS satellite can be received, and the absolute azimuth can be accurately detected, or the current position of the moving object can be directly detected.

The GPS receiver 19 is designed to receive radio waves from four or more GPS satellites so that three-dimensional positioning is always possible. 4 or more GPS
The GPS reception mode when receiving a radio wave from a satellite is referred to as a “three-dimensional positioning mode”. However, when entering a shadow of a building, the number of GPS satellites that can be received decreases. The GPS reception mode when receiving radio waves from three GPS satellites is called a “two-dimensional positioning mode”. The GPS reception mode in a case where a radio wave from a GPS satellite cannot be received by entering a tunnel or the like is called a “positioning impossible mode”.

FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram of the inside of the controller 7. The controller 7 reads out a predetermined range of display road map data and route calculation link data from the memory drive 8, and a remote control key. 13 based on the destination point information, the waypoint information and the current position information of the vehicle input from the locator 5,
Optimal route (recommended route) using link data for route calculation
Route calculation processing unit 72 for calculating
It has a display control unit 76, a voice control unit 77, and a route guidance processing unit 71 that controls all processes.

A method of obtaining the remaining mileage executed in such a system configuration will be described with reference to FIG.

In FIG. 4, reference numeral 100 indicates a locus of a road. Symbols A, B, C, D, and E indicate the positions of the nodes. Symbol F indicates a destination. a ₁ , a ₂ , a ₃ , d ₁ , d ₂ ,
d ₃ is a curve segment connecting the nodes, that is, an interpolation point representing the shape of the link. Symbol P indicates the current position of the vehicle. The road travel distance (distance) from the current position P to the next node position B is calculated by the following equation.

[0032]

## EQU1 ## Remaining mileage D = current location link length dp + (B ~
C) + (CD) + destination link length df

[0033]

## EQU2 ## Current location link length dp = (P-a ₂ ) + (a ₂ −
_{a 3) + (a 3 -B} )

[0034]

## EQU3 ## Destination link length df = (D−d ₁ ) + (d ₁ −
_{d 2) + (d 2 -d} 3) + (d 3 -F) Here, for example, B-C represents the stroke distance from the position B to the position C. a ₂ -a ₃ represents the linear distance from the interpolation position a ₂ to the interpolation position a _3. In the example of FIG. 4, the current location link length dp is a travel distance from the current position P to the next node position B, and is represented by a total distance between the current position and the interpolation position. The destination link length df is a travel distance from the preceding node D to the destination F, and is represented by a total distance between the interpolation points to the destination F.

In this embodiment, when the recommended route from the departure point to the destination is created by the optimum route calculation processing unit 72 based on the map data, the destination link length and the travel distance between the nodes are stored in the controller 7. In the form of a table. The distance data stored in this table is used for calculating the remaining traveling distance described below.

In this embodiment, once the current position of the vehicle is known, the node positions, the interpolation positions, and the link distances described on the map are used, and the above equations (1) to (3) are used.
The remaining travel distance from the current position to the destination is calculated.

Hereinafter, the procedure for acquiring the remaining mileage, which is executed by the route guidance apparatus of this embodiment, will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. The control procedure shown in the flowchart of FIG. 1 is executed by the CPU in the controller 7 at a constant period interruption every predetermined time.

The controller 7 adds the current travel distance to the internal table storing the vehicle travel distance integrated value from the previous calculation (step S10). Next, the controller 7 checks whether or not the current vehicle position follows the recommended route (step S20). When a negative determination is obtained, the present control procedure ends, and the calculation processing of the remaining traveling distance is not performed.

On the other hand, when an affirmative determination is obtained, the controller 7 checks whether the integrated value of the travel distance of the vehicle is greater than the remaining travel distance calculation determination distance (D ₁ ) (step S30). If a negative determination is obtained, it is determined that the timing for calculating the remaining traveling distance has not come, and the control procedure is terminated. When an affirmative determination is obtained, the controller 7 calculates the remaining traveling distance. For this purpose, a distance (link length) from the current position of the vehicle to the end point of the link on which the vehicle is currently traveling is determined (step S40). Next, the controller 7 reads the destination link length calculated in advance at the start of the route guidance from the table (step S50). As described above, the remaining traveling distance is obtained by adding the obtained two link lengths and the link length of the road between them (step S60).

The driver is notified of the remaining running distance by a screen display on the display device 12 or by voice guidance from the voice output device 18 (step S70). Finally, the (moving distance integration) table is cleared, and the remaining traveling distance calculation processing ends.

[0041] Hereinafter, the above-described procedure is repeated for each movement distance of the vehicle reaches a predetermined distance D _1, the remaining running distance is calculated and is guided to the driver. As described above, in the present embodiment, the guidance timing of the remaining travel distance of the vehicle is not affected by the distance between nodes (intersections) since the vehicle is moved by a fixed distance every time.

The following example can be carried out in addition to this embodiment.

1) The timing of the calculation of the remaining travel distance executed by the controller 7 is as follows: (1) Each time the vehicle travels a fixed distance measured by the distance sensor 2 (corresponding to the invention of claim 3); (3) When the measured vehicle travels for a certain period of time (corresponding to the invention of claim 4), (3) when it is confirmed that the vehicle has returned to the recommended route after having deviated from the recommended route to stop in the service area or the like (see FIG. Step S20 of 1
After the negative determination is obtained in the determination process, the time when the affirmative determination is obtained next—corresponding to the invention of claim 5), (4) When the calculation is instructed by operating the remote control key 13 of the driver (claim) (Corresponding to the invention of Item 6) may be selected. Some of these points may also be used in combination.

2) In this embodiment, the travel distance from the current position P to the destination F is calculated as shown in FIG. However, when the calculation accuracy is slightly lowered but the calculation speed is to be prioritized, in FIG. 4, instead of the distances P to B and DF, the lengths of the links where the current location and the destination exist (A to B, D to E)
In addition, the controller 7 can add up the sum of the intermediate link lengths (B to D) (corresponding to the invention of claim 2). The calculation timing of the remaining mileage may be the timing at which the link number followed by the vehicle on the recommended route is switched (corresponding to the invention of claim 7). For this purpose, the controller 7 repeatedly obtains a link number on the recommended route corresponding to the current position, and compares the previous link number with the current link number.

3) It goes without saying that the calculation timing of the above item 1) can be applied to the calculation method of the above item 2).

[0046]

In the present invention, since calculating a substantial distance from the current position to the destination, even if the vehicle is stopped in the service area and the like in the running route, i.e., the traveling vehicle is recommended after
Even if you deviate from the road, at any point on the recommended route
If you return to the recommended route, the remaining mileage will be calculated automatically.
It can also be restarted, during which the mileage does not affect the remaining mileage.

Further, it is possible to automatically or manually start the calculation of the remaining travel distance by detecting various timings such as a fixed distance and a fixed time.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a flowchart showing a guide processing procedure of the controller 7 of FIG. 2 according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a system configuration of a route guidance device to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing details of a controller 7 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing the contents of a remaining mileage calculation.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 5 Locator 7 Controller 8 Memory drive 12 Display device 13 Remote control key 17 Beacon receiver 18 Audio output device 19 GPS receiver 71 Route guidance processing unit 72 Optimal route calculation processing unit 76 Display control unit 77 Voice control unit

Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-61-208076 (JP, A) JP-A-62-289721 (JP, A) JP-A-2-210485 (JP, A) JP-A-3-127299 (JP) , A) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G01C 21/00 G08G 1/0969

Claims (6)

(57) [Claims] 1. A route guidance device for guiding a recommended route to a destination, comprising: a recommended route traveling determining means for determining that a vehicle is traveling on the recommended route; The vehicle has a remaining travel distance calculating means for calculating the remaining travel distance of the vehicle, and a guide means for guiding the calculated remaining travel distance on a screen or by voice, and the vehicle is traveling on the recommended route. Is determined by the recommended route travel determination means, the remaining travel distance calculation means connects the current position to the end point of the link that the vehicle is currently following by a straight line through an interpolation point in the middle.
The distance from the link start point closest to the destination to the destination on the link, and the sum of the lengths of the plurality of links between the link end point and the link start point. A featured route guidance device. 2. A route guidance device for guiding a recommended route to a destination, comprising: a recommended route travel determining means for determining that a vehicle is traveling on the recommended route; The vehicle has a remaining travel distance calculating means for calculating the remaining travel distance of the vehicle, and a guide means for guiding the calculated remaining travel distance on a screen or by voice, and the vehicle is traveling on the recommended route. When the recommended route travel determination means determines that the vehicle is following the current position from the current location.
The distance to the link end point and the closest from the destination
It is on the way from the link start point to the destination on the link
The distance connected by a straight line via the interpolation point and the link end point
Wherein the plurality of total child and the route guidance device to said the length of the link between the link starting point. 3. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a detecting unit that detects that the vehicle has traveled a predetermined distance, wherein the remaining mileage calculating unit executes the calculation in response to the detection by the detecting unit. Or the route guidance device according to 2. 4. A vehicle according to claim 1, further comprising a time detecting means for detecting that the vehicle has traveled for a predetermined time, and wherein said remaining mileage calculating means executes the calculation in response to the detection by said time detecting means. The route guidance device according to claim 1. 5. The travel position of the vehicle deviates from the recommended route,
Next, there is provided a determining means for determining whether or not the vehicle has returned, and the remaining mileage calculating means performs the calculation when the determination result of the determining means indicates a return to the recommended route. Item 3. The route guidance device according to item 1 or 2. 6. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising instruction means for manually instructing the calculation of the remaining mileage, wherein said remaining mileage calculation means executes the calculation in accordance with the instruction of said instruction means. 3. The route guidance device according to 2.