JP2002310671A - Navigation apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a function of informing a user of light operation for guiding, in a navigation apparatus for showing a route to destination. SOLUTION: This navigation apparatus for showing a route is provided with a light-detecting means for detecting the operation of light performed by the user, an operation timing detecting means for detecting the operation timing, based on the difference between a place, where the light is operated and a tunnel entrance place according to detection of light operation by the light detecting means, and a guide timing determining means for determining the timing of lighting guide, according to the operation timing detected by the operation timing detecting means.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a navigation device for providing route guidance to a destination, and more particularly to a function of notifying a user of light operation guidance.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a system for more comfortable driving, a navigation device for displaying a route to a destination and providing guidance is widely used. The function of the navigation device has been improved year by year, and in the light control, a navigation device has appeared which turns on the light, for example, when a tunnel approaches, according to the map information of the navigation device.

[0003]

However, the timing of turning on and off the light of the conventional on-vehicle navigation device is determined by the device. However, appropriate lighting and extinguishing of the light differ depending on the user, and therefore, there has been a problem that, for a certain user, turning on and off the light is too slow to obtain a good view.

An object of the present invention is to solve such a problem, and an object of the present invention is to realize a navigation device that turns on and off lights at appropriate timing for each user.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention solves the above-mentioned problems. In a navigation apparatus for performing route guidance, a light detecting means for detecting a light operation performed by a user, and a light operation by the light detecting means. Operation timing detection means for detecting an operation timing based on a difference between a point where a light operation is performed and a tunnel entrance point based on the detection of the light, and a light lighting guide based on the operation timing detected by the operation timing detection means. Guidance timing determining means for determining timing.

Further, in a navigation device for performing route guidance, a light detecting means for detecting a light operation performed by a user, and a point at which the light operation is performed and a tunnel exit based on the detection of the light operation by the light detecting means. An operation timing detection unit that detects an operation timing based on a difference between points, and a guide timing determination unit that determines a timing of a light extinguishing guidance based on the operation timing detected by the operation timing detection unit. I do.

Further, there is provided a vehicle form detecting means for detecting a road form, wherein the guide timing determining means determines the guide timing according to the road form detected by the vehicle form detecting means.

Further, the road form detecting means detects the presence or absence of a curve at the entrance / exit of the tunnel to be guided.

Further, the road form detecting means detects the presence or absence of a gradient at the entrance and exit of the tunnel to be guided.

Further, the road form detecting means detects an obstacle situation at an entrance and exit of the tunnel to be guided.

Further, the road form detecting means detects whether or not the road is an expressway.

Further, the road form detecting means detects the presence or absence of a guidance intersection at the entrance / exit of the tunnel to be guided.

Further, the road form detecting means detects whether or not the road is congested.

The guide timing determining means includes a night running detecting means for detecting whether or not the vehicle is running at night, and when the running at night is detected by the night running detecting means,
Invalidating means for invalidating the control of the guide timing for turning on or off the light based on the light operation timing.

[0015]

Next, a navigation device according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing a configuration of a navigation device according to one embodiment of the present invention.

Reference numeral 2 denotes a direction sensor that outputs a signal corresponding to the direction of travel of the vehicle to a microcomputer (microcomputer) 8, such as a sensor composed of a direction magnet using an earth magnetic field, and a gyro that detects a change in direction of the vehicle. And the like.

Numeral 3 is a distance sensor for detecting a traveling distance, which is a magnetic sensor composed of a magnet rotating with the axle and a reed switch whose cutting state is switched by a change in a magnetic field. The travel distance signal is output to the microcomputer 8. The distance sensor 3 may be a speed sensor used for controlling an engine of a vehicle.

Reference numeral 4 denotes a GPS (Global Positioning System) receiver for receiving a signal from a satellite to detect a position, receiving a signal from a GPS satellite, calculating a position by a predetermined arithmetic processing, and Output to

5 is VICS (Vehicle Information Co.)
A wireless device that receives road traffic information such as a mmunication system) outputs the received data to the microcomputer 8.

Reference numeral 6 denotes a vehicle environment detecting device, which is a plurality of aggregates for individually detecting a road gradient state, a road type state, a road curve angle state, and the like, and transmits detected data to the microcomputer 8.

Reference numeral 7 denotes an azimuth sensor 2, a distance sensor 3, a GPS receiver 4, a VICS receiver 5, a vehicle environment detecting device 6 and the like installed in each part of the automobile, and a main body of the navigation device 1 provided with the microcomputer 8. This is an interface for connecting to a data transmission bus of the unit.

Reference numeral 8 denotes a microcomputer, which inputs signals from the direction sensor 2, distance sensor 3, GPS receiver 4, VICS receiver 5, vehicle environment detecting device 6, and input device 14 to calculate the position of the vehicle, and to calculate the position of the vehicle. Of the navigation device, processing of display data, and the like, are performed based on the stored program, and the operating environment of the navigation device is detected.
-Input necessary map data from the ROM player 12,
The display 15 displays the map, the position of the vehicle, and the like.

The microcomputer 8 includes a CPU 9 for performing calculations, processing, and control of each component, a ROM 10 for storing programs and various data, and a RAM 11 for temporarily storing data to be processed and stored for processing and data. And so on.

The RAM 11 is always supplied with power, and its stored data is always held.

Reference numeral 12 denotes a CD-ROM player which reads necessary map data from the CD-ROM 13 according to an instruction from the microcomputer 8 and outputs the map data to the microcomputer 8. CD-R
The OM 13 stores not only data relating to roads but also data of other information such as the location and type of various facilities.

Reference numeral 14 denotes an input device for the user to set a destination, issue a route search command, and set the operating environment of the navigation device. The input device 14 can be constituted by a push button switch, a mouse, a joystick, and the like. It is also effective to use a screen-linked input device that displays push buttons and the like on a display device and operates the displayed push buttons and the like by operating a joystick and the like.

Reference numeral 15 denotes a display device for displaying an image in response to a display signal from the microcomputer 8, and is constituted by a liquid crystal display element or the like, and displays various information such as a map and a vehicle position.

Reference numeral 16 denotes a sound generation circuit which outputs a sound in accordance with a sound output signal (digital signal) from the microcomputer 8;
It consists of a converter, an amplifier, a speaker and the like.

Next, the operation of associating the light on / off guidance timing, which is a feature of the navigation device 1 according to the present embodiment, with the user's timing, and the operation method of the operation (learning of the light on / off guidance timing) Control execution / cancellation selection operation) will be described with reference to the drawings.

The guidance timing for operating the conventional navigation device is constant. Therefore, some users may feel early at this fixed guidance timing, and some users may feel late at this fixed guidance timing.

The guide timing for performing the light operation appropriate for the user is that the guide timing of the conventional navigation device is constant by learning the timing of the light operation by the user and making the learned result correspond to the guide timing. User dissatisfaction can be resolved. Further, by setting the light operation timing to a learning value learned in association with an external environment such as a vehicle environment where the operation is performed, a road environment,
Guidance timing that is appropriate for the user in accordance with the external environment at that time can be realized. In addition, since a light operation in a dark place in a normal night is different from an operation before and after a normal tunnel traveling, a means for excluding from a learning data in advance is provided. The exclusion means will be described later.

FIG. 2 is a screen display diagram showing an initial (normal) screen (map display screen) of the navigation device.

On the initial screen of the navigation device, operation switches SW1, SW2, SW3,... Are displayed at the bottom of the screen, and the corresponding operation switch SWn is selected by using the input device 14 to perform the finalizing operation. When the switch is selected, the navigation device performs a corresponding operation. The operation switch SW2 is an operation switch for executing or canceling the learning control of the light guide timing. Each time the operation switch SW2 is selected, the learning state is alternately switched between execution and cancellation, and the character displayed on the operation switch SW2 is also changed. Switching (when executed: learning is canceled, when canceled: learning is executed).

When the execution of the learning control is selected, the distance between the operation point of the light and the guide point (or the distance in consideration of the speed, that is, the required time) is detected, and for example, the average value is learned. Store as a value. Since the moving average value is suitable as the average value, for example, the stored average value (if the second and subsequent detection values corresponding to the external environment are taken as data, the stored data The coefficient a (1 or less: for example, 0.9) is added to the averaged learning value.
The value obtained by multiplying the value obtained by multiplying 5) by the value obtained by multiplying the new detection value by (1-a: 0.05, for example) is stored as a new learning value.

In addition, various external environments, for example, a road angle such as a curved angle or a gradient state of a road at an entrance of a tunnel, the presence or absence of an object which affects a view of an entrance or an entrance of a tunnel (for example, an obstacle, an intersection, a traffic jam, etc.), a tunnel, and the like. The learning is stored according to the road type of the entrance and the like.

Also, during night driving (determined based on time information from the GPS receiver in the navigation device), since the light operation is a special time period operation, learning is prohibited and the light operation point is not determined. Do not reflect the distance difference in the learning value.

When performing light guidance, a learning value is read out according to the detected external environment, and the difference between the guidance point and the vehicle position is determined by a predetermined value of this learning value (even if the learning value is varied by speed or the like). Guidance (display or voice output) for the guide point is performed at the point where the distance obtained by adding (good) is added.

The flow of the learning control for writing the learning value in the memory and the guidance process for determining the guidance timing using the learning value written in the memory and performing the light guidance will be described with reference to the block diagram of FIG.

First, the process of learning the timing of the write operation and writing the learned value to the memory will be described.

The route data holding unit S1 stores the route data to the destination searched by the route search processing. The tunnel detector S2 calculates the position of the next tunnel entrance point from the route data from the route data storage S1 and the vehicle position data from the vehicle position detector S3.
The timing detection unit S4 receives the tunnel point data from the tunnel detection unit S2 and the vehicle position data of the vehicle position detection unit S3 at the time when the light operation is detected by the light operation detection unit S5. And
From these position data, the distance to the tunnel entrance point is calculated.

The distance data detected by the timing detection section S4 is given to the storage control section S6. External environment detector S7
Indicates the road environment (for example, obstacles, intersections, traffic conditions, etc.) such as various external environments, for example, the curvature and gradient of the road at the entrance and exit of the tunnel, the presence or absence of an object that affects the view of the entrance and exit, and the type of road at the entrance and exit of the tunnel. Etc. are detected,
These data are provided to the storage control unit S6. The external environment detection unit S7 determines whether or not the light operation is performed during night driving, and provides the result to the storage control unit S6. Then, the storage controller S6 calculates a learning value based on the distance data detected by the timing detection unit S4 by the above-described method or the like in a state other than the case where the light operation is performed during night driving, and calculates the calculated learning value. The value is stored in the memory S8 in association with the external environment. It should be noted that, in addition to the exceptional process of the learning process, a method in which the distance data detected by the timing detection unit S4 is not provided to the storage control unit S6 when the write operation is performed during night driving is also possible. . The above processing is the guidance timing learning processing.

Next, a control process relating to the guidance process using the learning value obtained by the learning process will be described. The approach detection unit S10 receives the guidance point data from the tunnel detection unit S2 and the own vehicle position data from the own vehicle position detection unit S3. (Lighting / lighting-out) It is detected that the vehicle has approached the guidance point (it has been detected that the vehicle has reached a point sufficiently short of the point where the guidance point is performed). The reading unit S9 is provided with external environment data from the external environment detecting unit S7, and when the approach detecting unit S10 detects the approach to the light operation guide point, the reading unit S9 reads the learning value corresponding to the external environment. Is read out from the memory S8 and output to the guidance start timing determination unit S11. The guidance start timing determination unit S11 performs a process when the tunnel point data from the tunnel detection unit S3 and the distance of the vehicle position from the vehicle position detection unit S3 become values corresponding to the learning value (for example, learning value + predetermined location). A signal for instructing start of guidance is output.

Based on the tunnel point data from the tunnel detecting section S2 and the own vehicle position data from the own vehicle position detecting section S3, the guide content determining section S12 converts the guide content data at the next light operation guide point according to the scene. The guidance data read out from the guidance database S14 in which the guidance data is stored is stored and prepared for guidance. When a signal for instructing the start of guidance is output from the guidance timing determination unit S11, the guidance data stored in the guidance content determination unit S12 is transmitted to a voice guidance device such as a voice synthesis device or a display device including a liquid crystal display. The output is output to the configured guidance output unit S13, and voice guidance / display guidance (for example, light-on / light-off) is performed.

As another method, there is a method in which the learning value is calculated and stored in the memory S8 regardless of the external environment, instead of calculating and storing the learning value for each external environment. In this case, the reading unit S9 reads the learning value from the memory S8 regardless of the external environment, and outputs the learned value to the guidance start timing determining unit S11. Then, the guidance start timing determination unit S11 processes the learning value based on the external environment data from the external environment detection unit S7 to determine the guidance timing. When the learning value is determined for each driver, a driver identification device is included as the external environment detection unit S7, and the storage control unit S6 and the readout unit S9 or the guidance start timing determination unit S11 are used by the driver. Will be performed according to the storage and readout processing. As a method for identifying the driver, a method such as identification using a fingerprint or a voice print, or identification by operating a selection switch by the driver is possible. According to this configuration, it is possible to provide guidance to a plurality of drivers at appropriate guidance timing. For example, a configuration in which control values suitable for a plurality of drivers are stored and controlled by a technique such as an auto-position adjustment device is widely known. It is also possible to provide a configuration to provide guidance to a plurality of drivers at appropriate guidance timing.

As the guidance timing when the guidance timing learning release operation is selected, a timing based on a learning value at the time of learning release or a timing using an initial set value is used. When the learning value at the time of learning cancellation is used, the timing becomes familiar to the listener on a daily basis, and there is no sense of incongruity (particularly when a normal driver rides). Further, the timing at which the initial value is used is an average guidance timing desired by many people, and is a guidance timing that is substantially satisfied by everyone. By selecting the guidance timing learning cancellation, it is possible to prevent the learning value before cancellation from changing to a value outside the proper value of the original driver when another person drives. In addition, depending on the driver, the guidance timing for turning on the light may be before or after entering the tunnel, and the guidance timing for turning off the light may be before or after exiting the tunnel.

Next, a learning process performed by the microcomputer 8 to realize these operations will be described.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart for explaining the guidance timing learning process performed by the microcomputer 8. This process is executed when the user performs a write operation. In step Q1, the position of the vehicle at the time of performing the light operation is detected, and the process proceeds to step Q2. In step Q2, a distance difference (light operation timing) between the light operation point and the guide point is calculated, and the process proceeds to step Q3. In step Q3, an external environment is input, and the flow advances to step Q4. In step Q4, it is determined whether or not the learning is invalid, and if the learning is invalid, the process ends.
If not in the learning invalid state, the process proceeds to step Q5. Note that the learning invalid state is a case of running at night as described above. In step Q5, a calculation for moving-averaging the learning value of the corresponding external environment is performed, and the flow advances to step Q6. In step Q6, the calculated value is stored as the corresponding learning value in the external environment, and the process ends.

When the learning process is performed irrespective of the external environment, the processes in steps Q3 and Q4 are omitted, and
In addition, the processing of step Q5 and step Q6 are performed by calculation and storage processing using a common learning value regardless of the external environment.

Next, the light guidance processing performed by the microcomputer 8 will be described.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the light guide processing performed by the microcomputer 8 using the learning values. This process is executed by interruption each time the vehicle approaches the target guide point (a point sufficiently short of the guide start point).

At step R1, guidance contents suitable for the guidance point are read from the guidance database to prepare for guidance, and the routine proceeds to step R2. At Step R2, the vehicle environment or the road environment at the guide point is input, and the routine goes to Step R3.
In step R3, the learning values stored in association with the vehicle environment and the road environment are read out using the input vehicle environment and road environment as keywords, the guidance timing is determined based on the learning values, and the process proceeds to step R4. In step R4, it is determined whether or not the vehicle has reached the guidance point. If the vehicle has reached the guidance timing, the process proceeds to step R5, and if not, the process returns to step R4. In step R5, guidance is provided by voice or display, and the process ends.

Next, the light guide processing performed by the microcomputer 8 in the second embodiment (an example in which the learning value is calculated irrespective of the external environment) will be described. FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the light guide processing performed by the microcomputer 8. This process is executed by interruption every time the vehicle approaches the guidance target point (a point sufficiently short of the guidance start point). Step T1
Then, the guidance content corresponding to the guidance point is read from the guidance database, and the process proceeds to step T2. In step T2, a learning value is input, and the process proceeds to step T3. Step T3
Then, external environment data is input, and the routine goes to Step T4. In step T4, the learning value is corrected using the external environment data, and a guidance start point (guidance start timing) is determined.
Move to step T5. At Step T5, the current position is input, and the routine goes to Step T6. In step T6, it is determined whether or not the current position has reached the guidance start point. If it has, the process proceeds to step T7.
Return to 5. In step T7, the light guide corresponding to the guide point prepared in step T4 is performed, and the process ends.

[0053]

As described above in detail, according to the navigation device according to the present invention, it is possible to realize a navigation device that performs light guidance at appropriate timing for the user.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing a configuration of a navigation device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a display diagram showing a display state of a screen for selecting execution of learning of guidance timing or cancellation of learning of guidance timing.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a flow of signals and data for realizing the operation of the navigation device of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a write operation timing learning process (learning value and averaging of an external environment) performed by a microcomputer 8;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a light guiding process (determining a timing in which a learning value is made to correspond to a write operation timing corresponding to an external environment) performed by a microcomputer 8;

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a light guide process (determining a timing by associating a learning value with a light operation timing at the time of determining a guide point) performed by the microcomputer 8;

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Navigation device 6 ... Vehicle environment detection device 8 ... Microcomputer 11 ... ROM 12 ... RAM 14 ... CD-ROM 15 ... Input device 16 ... Display

Continued on front page F term (reference) 2C032 HB05 HC08 2F029 AA02 AB01 AB07 AB13 AC02 AC09 AC14 AC18 5H180 AA01 BB13 CC12 FF04 FF05 FF12 FF22 FF25 FF27 LL01 LL07 LL15

Claims (10)

[Claims] 1. A navigation device for performing route guidance, comprising: a light detecting means for detecting a light operation performed by a user; and
Operation timing detection means for detecting an operation timing based on a difference between a point where a light operation is performed and a tunnel entrance point; and guidance for determining a timing of light lighting guidance based on the operation timing detected by the operation timing detection means. A navigation device comprising timing determination means. 2. A navigation device for performing route guidance, comprising: a light detection unit that detects a light operation performed by a user; and a light operation unit that detects a light operation performed by the light detection unit.
Operation timing detection means for detecting an operation timing based on a difference between a point where a light operation is performed and a tunnel exit point; and guidance for determining a timing of light extinguishing guidance based on the operation timing detected by the operation timing detection means. A navigation device comprising timing determination means. 3. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising road form detecting means for detecting a road form, wherein the guide timing determining means determines the guide timing according to the road form detected by the road form detecting means. 2. The navigation device according to 2. 4. The navigation device according to claim 3, wherein said road form detecting means detects the presence or absence of a curve at the entrance / exit of the tunnel to be guided. 5. The navigation device according to claim 3, wherein said road form detecting means detects the presence or absence of a gradient at the entrance / exit of the tunnel to be guided. 6. The navigation device according to claim 3, wherein said road form detecting means detects an obstacle state at an entrance / exit of a guidance target tunnel. 7. The navigation device according to claim 3, wherein said road form detecting means detects whether the road is an expressway. 8. The navigation device according to claim 3, wherein the road form detecting means detects the presence or absence of a guidance intersection at the entrance / exit of the tunnel to be guided. 9. The navigation device according to claim 3, wherein said road form detecting means detects whether or not the road is congested. 10. The guide timing determining means includes: a night running detection means for detecting whether the vehicle is running at night; and, when the night running detection means detects that the vehicle is running during the night, a light is turned on based on a light operation timing. The navigation apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 9, further comprising: invalidation means for invalidating control of the guidance timing of turning off the light.