JP5810979B2 - Driving support device and driving support method - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a driving support apparatus and method for supporting driving of a vehicle.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a technique for performing driving support in accordance with a traveling state of a vehicle is known. For example, in the technique disclosed in Patent Document 1, it is determined whether or not there is a node in front of the vehicle on the attachment road in a scene where driving assistance is performed when the attachment road joins the main road. Discloses a technique for determining that it is the start timing of driving support when the vehicle passes through the position indicated by, and starting driving support at the start timing.

JP 2008-129816 A

In general map information, a node is an end point of a link, and in order to specify the positional relationship between the node and the vehicle, it is necessary to specify a link corresponding to a road section where the vehicle is traveling. As a conventional technique for specifying a link corresponding to a road section where a vehicle is traveling, a map matching process can be cited. That is, it is possible to identify the node set in front of the vehicle by identifying the node that is the end point of the matching link identified in the map matching process and identifying the traveling direction of the vehicle. However, in the map matching process, a state where a matching link cannot be specified may occur. In this case, since the position of the vehicle cannot be specified on the link, a node existing in front of the vehicle cannot be specified.
The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a technique that allows driving support to be started even when the vehicle is not in a matching state.

  In order to achieve the above object, in the present invention, a candidate link that is a candidate for a link corresponding to a road section in which a vehicle exists based on the current position detected by the current position detecting means when not in a matching state. When the candidate link changes from one link among a plurality of links connected to the target node to another link, it is determined that the vehicle has passed the position indicated by the target node. And the driving assistance predetermined as driving assistance after the vehicle passes the position which an object node shows is performed.

  That is, in the map matching process, a matching state is entered when a matching link is specified with a reliability equal to or higher than a predetermined reference, and therefore, a matching link is not specified when the reliability is lower than a predetermined reference. Therefore, a candidate link is specified instead of a matching link, and the vehicle has passed the position indicated by the target node when the candidate link changes from one link of a plurality of links connected to the target node to another link. judge. Therefore, even when it is not in the matching state, it can be determined that the vehicle has passed the position indicated by the target node, and it is possible to start driving support that should be started based on the position indicated by the target node. .

  Moreover, since the determination that the position indicated by the target node has passed is performed based on a change in the candidate link, a configuration that compares the current position of the vehicle with the position of the node is not essential. Therefore, it is possible to determine whether or not the vehicle has passed the position indicated by the target node without specifying the traveling direction of the vehicle, and even if the detection accuracy such as the traveling direction of the vehicle is reduced It can be determined whether or not the vehicle has passed the position indicated by the node.

  Here, the matching determination means only needs to be able to determine whether or not the matching state is the one in which the matching link is specified with the reliability equal to or higher than a predetermined reference by the map matching processing. The map matching process identifies the link corresponding to the road section where the vehicle exists together with the reliability, and matches the link specified as the link corresponding to the road section where the vehicle exists with a reliability higher than a predetermined standard. This is the process of linking. That is, it is determined as a matching link by identifying which road section is traveling among the road sections indicated by the links between the nodes.

  Various conditions can be considered in order to determine whether or not the road section is where the vehicle exists. For example, the vehicle speed, the angular velocity, the GPS signal, or a combination of the vehicle specified based on the GPS signal can be considered. Comparing the trajectory of the current position and the shape of the road indicated by the map information, the higher the degree of coincidence, the higher the reliability, the higher the GPS reception state, the higher the reliability, Various configurations such as a configuration in which the higher the reliability of the road shape is, the less likely it is to induce erroneous matching, can be employed.

  In addition, the matching link only needs to be specified with a reliability higher than a predetermined standard, and various types of processing can be adopted as processing for specifying the matching link. For example, from the position detected as the current position of the vehicle Map matching processing is performed for roads that exist within a predetermined range, multiple links with different reliability levels are extracted as candidates, and the link with the highest reliability level that has a reliability level equal to or higher than a predetermined level is the matching link It is possible to adopt a configuration such as In this case, if no link with a reliability higher than a predetermined standard can be specified, the matching state is not established.

  The current position detection means only needs to be able to detect the current position of the vehicle. That is, it is only necessary that the current position of the vehicle can be detected by a sensor or the like mounted on the driving support device. However, since the case where it is not in a matching state is assumed here, the structure which specifies the present position of a vehicle using a matching link is excluded. Therefore, for example, the current position detecting means can be configured by a configuration in which the current position of the vehicle is specified by any one or combination of a vehicle speed sensor, a gyro sensor, and a GPS signal.

  The candidate link specifying unit only needs to be able to specify the link corresponding to the road section closest to the current position as the candidate link when the matching determining unit determines that the matching state is not established. That is, the road section in which the distance between the current position of the vehicle specified by the current position detection means and an arbitrary road section (for example, the distance of the perpendicular extending from the current position to the straight line indicating the road section) is specified is specified. And the structure etc. which identify the link corresponded to the said road area as a candidate link are employable.

  The passage determination means determines the position indicated by the target node when a plurality of links are connected to the target node to be determined and the candidate link changes from one of the plurality of links to another link. It is only necessary to determine that the vehicle has passed. That is, it is determined that the vehicle has passed the position indicated by the target node when a certain link connected to the target node is changed to a candidate link from another link connected to the target node. I can do it.

  The driving support means only needs to be able to execute a predetermined support as driving support after the vehicle has passed the position indicated by the target node when it is determined that the vehicle has passed the position indicated by the target node. The driving assistance may be driving assistance that starts with the passage of the position indicated by the node, and the content of the assistance is not particularly limited. For example, deceleration support, acceleration support, merging support, alerting, etc. that are required on a road that travels after passing through the target node can be adopted as driving support. Of course, the content of the support may be vehicle control or guidance for the driver, and various contents can be adopted.

  The present invention is preferably implemented in a situation where it is assumed that the matching state is lost. Therefore, the current position of the vehicle exists in a facility where a road section where no link is set and a parking lot which can be reached by traveling on a road section where the link is not set exists and is not in a matching state In this case, the candidate link may be specified. In other words, in a facility where a road section where no link is set and a parking lot which can be reached by traveling on a road section where the link is not set, matching is performed when driving on a road section where the link is not set Often out of condition. Therefore, if the present position is applied when the current position of the vehicle exists in such a facility and the vehicle is not in a matching state, the target node can be used even in a facility where a matching link cannot be specified by the map matching process. The driving support can be executed with the passing of the position indicated by as the start timing of the support.

  In addition, service areas, parking areas, store parking lots, etc. include facilities where road sections where links are not set and parking lots which can be reached by traveling on road sections where links are not set are installed. Can be mentioned. In other words, road sections such as service areas, parking areas, store parking lots, etc. have complicated shapes, and information on all road sections is not required for route guidance. Often, only this information is defined as map information. However, in service areas, parking areas, store parking lots, etc., vehicles are often parked in parking lots for breaks, etc., and in this case, the vehicle runs on a road section where no link is set. Therefore, in the map matching process, it is often in a state where a matching link cannot be specified with a reliability higher than a predetermined standard.

  Therefore, in a facility where a road section where a link is not set and a parking lot which can be reached by traveling on a road section where the link is not set is configured, a candidate link is specified when the matching state is not established If this is the case, even in facilities such as service areas, parking areas, store parking lots, etc., where a matching link cannot be identified by map matching processing, driving assistance will be triggered by the start timing of passing the position indicated by the target node. Can be executed. Whether or not the current position of the vehicle exists in a facility where a road section where a link is not set and a parking lot which can be reached by traveling on a road section where the link is not set is, for example, A configuration for determining that the current position of the vehicle exists in the facility when the current position of the vehicle exists within a predetermined distance from the position of the facility associated with information indicating that it is a service area or a parking area in the map information Etc. can be adopted.

  Furthermore, the method of determining that the vehicle has passed the position indicated by the target node based on the change in the positional relationship between the candidate link and the target node when the matching state is not the case as in the present invention is also a program or method. Applicable. In addition, the above-described driving support device, program, and method may be realized as a single driving support device, or may be realized by using parts shared with each part provided in the vehicle. The embodiment is included. For example, it is possible to provide a navigation device, a method, and a program that include the driving support device as described above. Further, some changes may be made as appropriate, such as a part of software and a part of hardware. Furthermore, the invention is also established as a recording medium for a program for controlling the driving support device. Of course, the software recording medium may be a magnetic recording medium, a magneto-optical recording medium, or any recording medium to be developed in the future.

It is a block diagram of the navigation apparatus containing a driving assistance device. It is a flowchart of a driving assistance process. It is a figure which shows typically the highway around a service area.

Here, embodiments of the present invention will be described in the following order.
(1) Configuration of navigation device:
(2) Driving support processing:
(3) Other embodiments:

(1) Configuration of navigation device:
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a navigation device 10 including a driving support device according to the present invention. The navigation device 10 includes a control unit 20 including a CPU, a RAM, a ROM, and the like and a recording medium 30, and the control unit 20 can execute a program stored in the recording medium 30 or the ROM. In the present embodiment, a navigation program can be implemented as one of the programs, and the driving support program 21 is provided as one of the program modules constituting the navigation program.

  Map information 30a is recorded in the recording medium 30 in advance. The map information 30a is information used for specifying the current position of the vehicle and the like. Node data indicating the position of the node set on the road on which the vehicle travels and the shape of the road between the nodes are specified. It includes shape interpolation point data, link data indicating connection between nodes, feature data indicating the position and type of features (such as paint and buildings indicating stop lines) existing on the road and its surroundings, and the like. The feature includes a service area and a parking area, and the link data of a link indicating a road section existing in the service area or the parking area indicates that each link exists in the service area or the parking area. Information is associated.

  The vehicle according to the present embodiment (the vehicle on which the navigation device 10 is mounted) has a GPS receiver 41, a vehicle speed sensor 42, a gyro sensor 43, a user I / F unit 44, and a camera 45 in order to realize the functions of the driving support program 21. The functions of the driving support program 21 are realized by the cooperation of these units and the control unit 20.

  The GPS receiver 41 receives radio waves from GPS satellites and outputs information for calculating the current position of the vehicle via an interface (not shown). The control unit 20 acquires this signal and acquires the current position of the vehicle. The vehicle speed sensor 42 outputs a signal corresponding to the rotational speed of the wheels provided in the vehicle. The control unit 20 acquires this signal via an interface (not shown) and acquires the speed of the vehicle. The gyro sensor 43 outputs a signal corresponding to the direction of the vehicle. The control unit 20 acquires this signal via an interface (not shown) and acquires the traveling direction of the vehicle. The vehicle speed sensor 42, the gyro sensor 43, and the like are used for correcting the current position of the vehicle specified from the output signal of the GPS receiver 41.

  That is, in the present embodiment, the control unit 20 performs the map matching process by the process of the navigation program. Specifically, the control unit 20 specifies the travel start position of the vehicle based on the output signal of the GPS reception unit 41, and estimates the vehicle from the travel start position based on the output signals of the vehicle speed sensor 42 and the gyro sensor 43. The current position of the vehicle is specified by specifying the trajectory. Further, the control unit 20 refers to the map information 30a, specifies the degree of coincidence between the shape of the road existing within a predetermined distance from the vehicle and the shape of the estimated trajectory, and the reliability that increases as the degree of coincidence increases to a predetermined level. If it is above the standard, the road with the highest reliability among the roads with the reliability above the predetermined standard is regarded as the road on which the vehicle is traveling. Then, a link corresponding to a road section where a vehicle exists on a road having the highest reliability among roads having a reliability higher than a predetermined standard is specified as a matching link. When the matching link is specified, the control unit 20 specifies the current position of the vehicle on the road section indicated by the matching link, and corrects the current position indicated by the output signals of the vehicle speed sensor 42 and the gyro sensor 43 described above. To do.

  The user I / F unit 44 includes an output device that outputs various guides based on a control signal output from the control unit 20. The output device of the user I / F unit 44 of the present embodiment includes a speaker that outputs guidance by voice and a display that outputs guidance by image. The camera 45 includes a predetermined range around the vehicle in the field of view and captures image data indicating an image around the vehicle. The peripheral image data captured by the camera 45 is output to the control unit 20 via an interface (not shown). The control unit 20 detects another vehicle based on the image indicated by the image data.

  The control unit 20 executes the above-described map matching process by executing the navigation program to identify the matching link, and the driving support program 21 performs a driving support process that supports the driving of the driver in a predetermined scene. In order to perform the driving support, the driving support program 21 includes a matching determination unit 21a, a current position detection unit 21b, a candidate link specifying unit 21c, a passage determination unit 21d, and a driving support unit 21e.

  The matching determination unit 21a is a module that causes the control unit 20 to realize a function of determining whether or not a matching state in which a matching link is specified with a reliability equal to or higher than a predetermined standard. That is, as a result of the navigation program executing the above-described map matching process by the process of the matching determination unit 21a, the control unit 20 determines whether or not the current matching state specifies a matching link with a reliability equal to or higher than a predetermined reference. Determine whether.

  The current position detection unit 21b is a module that causes the control unit 20 to realize a function of detecting the current position of the vehicle. That is, the control unit 20 specifies the current position of the vehicle based on the output signals from the vehicle speed sensor 42 and the gyro sensor 43. Here, the control unit 20 specifies the current position without using the result of the map matching process. That is, the control unit 20 uses the position of the vehicle on the road section corresponding to the matching link in the state where the matching link is specified at the timing closest to the present as the reference position (when the matching link has never been specified). In this case, the travel start position is used as the reference position). And the control part 20 specifies the position after moving according to the estimation locus | trajectory specified based on the output signal of the vehicle speed sensor 42 and the gyro sensor 43 from the said reference position as a present position of a vehicle.

  The candidate link specifying unit 21c is a module that causes the control unit 20 to realize a function of specifying a candidate link that is a link candidate corresponding to a road section where the vehicle exists based on the current position when the candidate link is not in the matching state. In the present embodiment, the control unit 20 refers to the map information 30a and specifies a link corresponding to the road section closest to the current position of the vehicle detected by the processing of the current position detection unit 21b as a candidate link.

  The passage determination unit 21d has a position indicated by the target node when a plurality of links are connected to the target node to be determined and the candidate link changes from one of the plurality of links to another link. This is a module that causes the control unit 20 to realize the function of determining that the vehicle has passed. That is, the control unit 20 refers to the map information 30a and determines whether or not a plurality of links are connected to the target node with the node constituting the end point of the candidate link as the target node. Note that a plurality of links are connected to a normal node except when the road section is a dead end. When a plurality of links are connected to the target node, the control unit 20 changes the candidate link specified by the candidate link specifying unit 21c, and the candidate until the immediately preceding among the plurality of links connected to the target node. When a link different from the link that has been a link becomes a new candidate link, it is determined that the vehicle has passed the position indicated by the target node.

  When it is determined that the vehicle has passed the position indicated by the target node, the driving support unit 21e controls a function of executing predetermined driving support as driving support after the vehicle has passed the position indicated by the target node. This module is realized by the unit 20. In other words, the control unit 20 performs driving support using the passage of the target node as a trigger. The driving assistance may be various kinds of assistance.For example, the driving assistance is configured to leave the service area and the parking area attached to the expressway, and perform the joining assistance when the expressway exchanges with the expressway. It can be adopted. In this case, based on the image data output from the camera 45, the control unit 20 specifies the relative speed between the vehicle on which the navigation device 10 is mounted and another vehicle, and guides the vehicle between the vehicles formed by the other vehicles. It is possible to adopt a configuration that performs such guidance.

  In the map matching process, a matching state is established when a matching link is specified with a reliability higher than a predetermined criterion. Therefore, when the reliability is lower than a predetermined criterion, the matching link is not specified. In the map information 30a, a method of reproducing a road by using links and nodes constituting the end points of the links is adopted. A conventional navigation device adopts a configuration in which a node that is an end point of a matching link is specified, and a node set in front of the vehicle is specified by specifying the traveling direction of the vehicle. Therefore, in a state where the matching link is not specified, the conventional navigation device cannot specify the node in front of the vehicle, and cannot specify the relationship between the vehicle and the node. As a result, it has not been possible to determine that the vehicle has passed the position indicated by the node.

  Therefore, in this embodiment, a candidate link is specified instead of a matching link, and the position indicated by the target node when the candidate link changes from one link of a plurality of links connected to the target node to another link. It is determined that the vehicle has passed. Therefore, even when it is not in the matching state, it can be determined that the vehicle has passed the position indicated by the target node, and it is possible to start driving support that should be started based on the position indicated by the target node. .

  In addition, since the determination that the vehicle has passed the position indicated by the target node is performed based on the change of the candidate link, a configuration that compares the current position of the vehicle with the position of the node is not essential. Therefore, it is possible to determine whether or not the vehicle has passed the position indicated by the target node without specifying the traveling direction of the vehicle, and the detection accuracy such as the traveling direction of the vehicle is reduced. Even so, it can be determined whether or not the vehicle has passed the position indicated by the target node.

(2) Driving support processing:
Next, the driving assistance process which the navigation apparatus 10 implements in the above structure is demonstrated. FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing driving support processing by the driving support program 21, and FIG. 3 is a diagram schematically showing the service area S and a highway around the service area S. Note that the service area S shown in FIG. 3 is connected to an approach road Ri from the highway H and an exit road Ro to the highway H. Further, in FIG. 3, nodes are indicated by black circles and shape interpolation points are indicated by white circles, and thick straight lines having black circles or white circles as end points are links. That is, in the example shown in FIG. 3, the link Li is set for the approach route Ri, the link Lo is set for the exit route Ro, and the links L ₁ , L ₂ , L ₃ , and L ₄ are set in the service area. Furthermore, in FIG. 3, the parking lot P installed in the service area S is indicated by a rectangle.

  The driving support process shown in FIG. 2 is executed every predetermined period (for example, 100 ms). Moreover, the control part 20 is performing the map matching process in parallel with the said driving assistance process. In the driving support process shown in FIG. 2, the control unit 20 determines that the current position of the vehicle is a service area or a parking area (a road section where no link is set and the link is not set) by the process of the candidate link specifying unit 21c. It is determined whether it is in a facility where a parking lot that can be reached by traveling on a road section is installed (step S100). Here, it is only necessary to determine whether or not the current position of the vehicle is within the service area or the parking area. The current position of the vehicle may be detected, and determination using the detected current position may be performed. The determination using the detected current position may not be performed.

In the present embodiment, a condition that the current position of the vehicle is estimated to exist in the service area or the parking area is set in advance without using the detected current position, and at least one of the conditions is satisfied In addition, the current position of the vehicle exists in the service area or the parking area. Specifically, the following conditions are set.
1) The shift lever is set to the reverse position.
2) While the vehicle travels a predetermined distance, the traveling direction of the vehicle changes by a predetermined angle or more.
3) In the map matching process, all road sections in which the degree of coincidence between the vehicle trajectory and the shape is equal to or greater than a predetermined reference are road sections in the service area or the parking area.

  For condition 1), the control unit 20 acquires an output signal of a sensor that detects a shift position of a shift device (not shown), and determines whether condition 1) is satisfied based on the output signal. For condition 2), the control unit 20 acquires the output signals of the vehicle speed sensor 42 and the gyro sensor 43 to identify the travel distance and the angle of the travel direction, and the travel direction changes by a predetermined angle or more while the vehicle travels a predetermined distance. By determining whether or not the condition 2) is satisfied, it is determined. Note that the predetermined distance and the predetermined angle are not combinations of these distances and angles during highway driving, but values that are combinations of these distances and angles when heading to a parking lot in a service area or a parking area. It is set in advance. Regarding condition 3), as a result of the map matching process executed by the control unit 20, it is determined that all the links indicating road sections where the degree of coincidence between the vehicle trajectory and the shape is a predetermined reference are service areas or parking areas. It is determined whether or not the condition 3) is satisfied by determining whether or not the indicated information is associated.

For example, in the example shown in FIG. 3, after the vehicle has entered the service area S from the approach road Ri, when the shift lever is set to the reverse position in order to perform a turning operation or the like to park in any of the parking lots P, It is determined that the condition 1) is satisfied and the service area S is present. In addition, after the vehicle enters the service area S from the approach road Ri, when the vehicle heads for the parking lot P from the road section corresponding to the link L ₂ or the link L ₄ in order to park at any of the parking lots P, or a turn-back operation is performed. When the traveling direction changes by a predetermined angle or more during traveling for a predetermined distance, for example, the condition 2) is satisfied and the service area S is determined. Further, when the vehicle enters the service area S from the approach road Ri, road sections in which the degree of coincidence between the vehicle trajectory and the shape is greater than or equal to a predetermined reference in the map matching process are limited to the links L _{1 to} L _4. And the condition 3) is satisfied, and it is determined that it is in the service area S.

  In step S100, when it is not determined that the current position of the vehicle is the service area or the parking area, the control unit 20 skips steps S105 to S140 and ends the process. When it is determined in step S100 that the current position of the vehicle is the service area or the parking area, the control unit 20 determines whether or not it is currently in a matching state by the processing of the matching determination unit 21a (step S105). ). When it determines with it being in a matching state in step S105, the control part 20 performs step S130 or later.

  On the other hand, when it is not determined in step S105 that the state is the matching state, the control unit 20 executes step S110 and subsequent steps. In step S110, the control unit 20 acquires the current position of the vehicle by the processing of the current position detection unit 21b (step S110). That is, since it is not in the matching state at the stage of executing step S110, the control unit 20 specifies the current position of the vehicle based on the output signals of the vehicle speed sensor 42 and the gyro sensor 43 without using the result of the map matching process. To do.

For example, the vehicle is allowed to park the vehicle in a parking lot from the road section by traveling road section link is not set indicating the link L ₂ as indicated by broken line arrow in FIG. 3, by broken line arrow, and then re-start in such a case the link has progressed a road section that is not configured to run the road section indicated by the link L ₄ as shown, tend to be state not matching state. Thus, since the vehicle speed sensor 42 and the gyro sensor 43 of the vehicle continue to output signals even in a state that is not in the matching state, the current position of the vehicle is based on the output signals of the vehicle speed sensor 42 and the gyro sensor 43. To get. In this case, the locus of the current position of the vehicle from the position on the matching link in the previous matching state is specified based on the output signals of the vehicle speed sensor 42 and the gyro sensor 43. Therefore, even if the vehicle is not in the matching state, the possibility that the current position of the vehicle is greatly deviated from the actual position is small.

Next, the control part 20 specifies a candidate link by the process of the candidate link specific | specification part 21c (step S115). That is, the control unit 20 refers to the map information 30a, and specifies a link corresponding to the road section closest to the current position of the vehicle acquired in step S110 as a candidate link. For example, in FIG. 3, when the locus such as the arrow indicated by a dashed line in a state not a matching condition is detected as the locus of the current position, the step S115 is executed at a position P _1, the position P ₁ There are road sections indicated by link L ₄ , link L ₃ , and link Lo in the vicinity (within a predetermined distance from position P ₁ , for example, 100 m), but the link closest to position P ₁ is link L ₄ , so link L ₄ is a candidate link. Information indicating the identified candidate link is recorded in the RAM, and the recorded information is updated each time step S115 is executed.

Next, the control unit 20 determines whether or not the vehicle has passed the position indicated by the target node by the process of the passage determination unit 21d (step S120). That is, the control unit 20 refers to the map information 30a, and sets a node constituting the end point of the candidate link as a target node. In the example illustrated in FIG. 3, when the candidate link is the link L ₄ , the target nodes are the nodes N ₁ and N ₂ . When the target node is specified, the control unit 20 determines whether or not a plurality of links are connected to the target node. In the example shown in FIG. 3, the link L ₄ are the node N _1, the link L _3, link Lo are connected, the target node N ₂ link L _4, the link L _1, the link Li is connected. Accordingly, it is determined that a plurality of links are connected to any target node, and a plurality of links are connected to the target node.

Furthermore, the control unit 20 refers to the information recorded in the RAM in step S115, changes the candidate link to a link different from the immediately preceding candidate link, and until just before the plurality of links connected to the target node. When a link different from the link that has been a candidate link becomes a new candidate link, it is determined that the vehicle has passed the position indicated by the target node. For example, in FIG. 3, when the candidate link changes from the state in which the candidate link is the link L ₄ and the link Lo or the link L ₃ becomes the candidate link, the vehicle indicates the position indicated by the target node N _1. Judge that it has passed. In the present embodiment, the traveling direction of the vehicle is also specified by the change of the candidate link. That is, when a candidate link changes from a certain link to another link, it is considered that the vehicle is traveling in a direction from the certain link to the other link. For example, in FIG. 3, when the locus of the current position is a locus indicated by a one-dot chain line, the candidate link is the link Lo at the position P ₂ after the candidate link is identified as the link L ₄ at the position P ₁ . Identified. In this case, it is determined that the vehicle passes through the node N _1, and travels to the exit road Ro direction.

  If it is not determined in step S120 that the vehicle has passed the position indicated by the target node, step S125 is skipped and the process ends. On the other hand, when it is determined in step S120 that the vehicle has passed the position indicated by the target node, the control unit 20 performs predetermined support as driving support after passing the target node by the processing of the driving support unit 21e. (Step S125). In the present embodiment, the support determined in advance as the driving support after passing through the target node is the merge support when joining the expressway. Therefore, driving assistance is executed in a vehicle that passes through the target node and travels along the junction after the target node leaves. Note that the merge support is based on the image data output by the camera 45, and the control unit 20 specifies the relative speed between the vehicle on which the navigation device 10 is mounted and the other vehicle, and is formed between the other vehicles. It is guidance etc. which guides vehicles.

For example, in the example shown in FIG. 3, when the vehicle travels on the road section indicated by the link L ₄ before the vehicle passes the position indicated by the target node N _1, and travels on the road section indicated by the link Lo after passing. Joining assistance is performed when deemed acceptable. Meanwhile, merging the position indicated by the target node N ₁ when deemed vehicle is traveling the road section indicated by the link L ₄ before passing, running on a road section indicated by the link L ₃ after passing Support is not carried out.

On the other hand, when it is determined in step S105 that the state is the matching state, the control unit 20 identifies the target node ahead of the road corresponding to the matching link by the processing of the driving support program 21 (step S130). ). That is, the control unit 20 refers to the map information 30a, identifies the node that constitutes the end point of the matching link identified by the map matching process, identifies the front of the vehicle based on the output signal of the gyro sensor 43, and performs matching. Among the nodes constituting the end points of the link, the node existing in front of the vehicle is specified as the target node. For example, in the example illustrated in FIG. 3, when the link L ₄ is a matching link and the vehicle is traveling toward the exit route Ro, the node N ₁ is specified as the target node.

  Next, the control unit 20 determines whether or not the vehicle has passed the position indicated by the target node by the processing of the driving support program 21 (step S135). Here, since the matching link is specified, the current position of the vehicle is specified on the road section indicated by the matching link. Therefore, the control unit 20 specifies the current position of the vehicle on the matching link, and the current position of the vehicle approaches the position indicated by the target node on the road section indicated by the matching link, and the position indicated by the target node. In addition, if the current position of the vehicle moves away from the position indicated by the target node on the road section indicated by another matching link, it is determined that the vehicle has passed the target node.

For example, in the example shown in FIG. 3, the vehicle is assumed that the vehicle travels the road section indicated by the link Lo after traveling the road section indicated by the link L _4. In this case, the current position of the vehicle approaches the target node is shown positioned on the road section indicated by the link L _4, eventually matches the position indicated by the target node N _1. Thereafter, the current position of the vehicle moves away from the position indicated by the target node N ₁ on the road section indicated by the link Lo. In this case, it is determined that the vehicle has passed through the target node N ₁ .

  In step S135, when it is determined that the vehicle has passed the position indicated by the target node, the control unit 20 performs support determined in advance as driving support after passing the target node by the processing of the driving support program 21 ( Step S140). Here again, the support predetermined as the driving support after passing through the target node is the merge support when joining the expressway, and the content of the support is the same as step S125. If it is not determined in step S135 that the vehicle has passed the position indicated by the target node, step S140 is skipped.

(3) Other embodiments:
The above embodiment is an example for carrying out the present invention, and it is determined that the vehicle has passed the position indicated by the target node based on the change in the positional relationship between the candidate link and the target node when not in the matching state. As long as this is done, various other embodiments can be adopted. Various conditions can be considered in order to determine whether or not the road section in which the vehicle exists in the map matching process. For example, the better the GPS reception state of the map matching process, the higher the reliability. Various configurations can be employed, such as a configuration that is regarded as having higher reliability, and a configuration in which the road shape is less likely to induce false matching.

  When a candidate link is specified, it is only necessary that a link candidate can be specified based on the current position by using a technique different from the above-described map matching process that specifies a matching link having a reliability equal to or higher than a predetermined reference. Therefore, in addition to the configuration in which the link corresponding to the road section closest to the current position is used as the candidate link as described above, the reliability is the highest among the links that have a reliability lower than the predetermined standard in the map matching process. A configuration in which links are extracted and specified as candidate links may be employed.

  The driving assistance may be driving assistance that starts with the passage of the position indicated by the node, and the content of the assistance is not particularly limited. For example, in addition to the merging support as described above, deceleration support, acceleration support, alerting, etc. that are required on a road that travels after passing through the target node can be adopted as driving support. Of course, the content of the support may be vehicle control or guidance for the driver, and various contents can be adopted. The facility that performs driving support is not limited to the service area or the parking area, and may be, for example, a highway toll booth or a parking lot of a store. Various scenes can be assumed as scenes to be supported, and scenes in which other vehicles are not involved may be used. For example, a configuration may be used in which a warning or the like is given when the vehicle is traveling backward on a one-way road.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Navigation apparatus, 20 ... Control part, 21 ... Driving support program, 21a ... Matching determination part, 21b ... Current position detection part, 21c ... Candidate link specific part, 21d ... Passing determination part, 21e ... Driving support part, 30 ... Recording medium, 30a ... map information, 41 ... GPS receiver, 42 ... vehicle speed sensor, 43 ... gyro sensor, 44 ... user I / F unit, 45 ... camera

Claims (3)

Matching determination means for determining whether or not the matching link is specified with a reliability equal to or higher than a predetermined reference in a map matching process for specifying a matching link that is a link corresponding to a road section where a vehicle exists; ,
Current position detecting means for detecting the current position of the vehicle;
The current position of the vehicle exists in a facility where a road section where the link is not set and a parking lot which can be reached by traveling on a road section where the link is not set exists, and the matching state If not, candidate link specifying means for specifying a link corresponding to the road section closest to the current position as a candidate link;
When a plurality of links are connected to the target node to be determined, and the candidate link changes from one of the plurality of links to another link, the position indicated by the target node is the vehicle. Passage determination means for determining that the
Driving assistance means for executing driving assistance determined in advance as driving assistance after the vehicle has passed the position indicated by the target node when it is determined that the vehicle has passed the position indicated by the target node;
A driving support apparatus comprising:   The matching determination means determines whether or not the matching link is specified with a reliability equal to or higher than a predetermined reference in a map matching process that specifies a matching link that is a link corresponding to a road section where a vehicle exists. Step to do,
  A current position detecting means for detecting a current position of the vehicle;
  The current position of the vehicle exists in a facility in which candidate link specifying means is installed with a road section where the link is not set and a parking lot which can be reached by traveling on a road section where the link is not set. And, when not in the matching state, identifying a link corresponding to a road section closest to the current position as a candidate link,
  When the plurality of links are connected to the target node to be determined and the candidate link is changed from one of the plurality of links to another link by the passage determination unit, the target node is Determining that the vehicle has passed the indicated position;
  When the driving support means determines that the vehicle has passed the position indicated by the target node, the driving support means executes driving support predetermined as driving support after the vehicle has passed the position indicated by the target node. Step,
Driving support method including.   Computer
  Matching determination means for determining whether or not the matching link is specified with a reliability equal to or higher than a predetermined reference in a map matching process for specifying a matching link that is a link corresponding to a road section where a vehicle exists,
  Current position detecting means for detecting the current position of the vehicle;
  The current position of the vehicle exists in a facility where a road section where the link is not set and a parking lot which can be reached by traveling on a road section where the link is not set exists, and the matching state If not, candidate link specifying means for specifying a link corresponding to the road section closest to the current position as a candidate link,
  When a plurality of links are connected to the target node to be determined, and the candidate link changes from one of the plurality of links to another link, the position indicated by the target node is the vehicle. A passage determination means for determining that has passed,
  Driving assistance means for executing driving assistance determined in advance as driving assistance after the vehicle has passed the position indicated by the target node when it is determined that the vehicle has passed the position indicated by the target node;
Driving support program to function as.

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