JP2002168642A - Navigation apparatus and recording medium recording program for processing the same - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a navigation system which automatically selects an exit optimum for a user so as to be navigated, when a plurality of exists exist in a facility. SOLUTION: When the present position of an own vehicle detected by a vehicle-position detection part 3 is situated inside a specific facility, a route up to the exit of the facility and the exit are retrieved by a route calculation part 6 on the basis of inside-of-facility map information stored in a map- information storage part 2; and when there are the plurality in the facility, optimum exit is selected by applying a prescribed judgment condition, and the exit is presented together with the route.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a navigation device and a recording medium on which a program for processing the navigation device is recorded.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Navigation in which a host vehicle is stopped in a specific facility such as a large-scale park or amusement park parking lot, and a route to a destination via an appropriate exit is searched and displayed. As an apparatus, a technique described in JP-A-11-325934 or JP-A-2000-74681 is known.

The navigation system described in the former Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H11-325934 is designed to determine whether a vehicle is in a service area or a parking area. Set the highway / toll road flag to
A ramp flag is set when matching with the lead-in road, and the coordinates of the point are stored as coordinate data. If the result of the map matching does not match any of the roads, it is determined that the vehicle is in the service area or the parking area, and a route search is performed using the coordinates on the drawn-in road as a starting point.

[0004] The latter navigation apparatus described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-74681 determines whether or not the own vehicle (or destination) is within a specific area, and identifies the own vehicle (or destination). When it is determined that the road exists in the area, a connecting road connecting the specific area and the main road is extracted, and route guidance including an intersection position between the extracted connecting road and the main road is performed.

[0005]

However, in any of the above conventional navigation devices, when there are a plurality of exits in a facility where the vehicle is located, which exit is to be selected is considered. Absent. Therefore, especially in the case of large-scale facilities, the user must decide which exit to select and the route to the selected exit, and in some cases, the connection point with the route to the destination You may choose the exit on the completely opposite side and go around the outside of the facility almost, and finally enter the route to the destination,
There was a problem with usability.

In the case of a large-scale facility, even if a user stops at a parking lot of the facility and wants to know which of a plurality of exits can be taken to a general road earlier, even if a user wants to know which exit, There is no known navigation device that automatically selects an optimal exit and presents it to the user.

The present invention has been made to solve such a conventional technical problem, and automatically selects an optimum exit for a user when a facility has a plurality of exits. An object of the present invention is to provide a navigation device that can be presented and a computer-readable recording medium that records a program for performing the processing.

[0008]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a navigation apparatus for detecting a current position of a vehicle, wherein the current position is detected in a specific facility. An exit searching means for searching for an exit of the facility based on a plurality of exits of the facility, an exit selecting means for selecting an optimal exit by applying a predetermined judgment condition when there are a plurality of exits of the facility, and presenting the optimal exit. Exit presenting means.

In the navigation apparatus according to the first aspect of the present invention, the current position of the vehicle is detected, and when the detected current position is within a specific facility, an exit of the facility is searched based on the map information. When there are a plurality of exits, an optimum exit is selected and presented by applying a predetermined determination condition.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the navigation device according to the first aspect, the exit selecting means is provided with one of the exits.
Or if the road outside the multiple connected facilities is a narrow road,
A connection point between the narrow road and the main road is regarded as an exit, and the predetermined determination condition is applied.

In the navigation apparatus according to the second aspect of the present invention, the current position of the vehicle is detected, and when the detected current position is within a specific facility, an exit of the facility is searched for based on the map information. When there are a plurality of exits, in selecting and presenting an optimal exit by applying a predetermined determination condition, one or more of the searched exits is a narrow road outside the connecting facility. In this case, a connection point between the narrow road and the main road is regarded as an exit, and a predetermined determination condition is applied to the plurality of exits to select an optimal exit.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the navigation device according to the first or second aspect, the exit selecting means includes:
The shortest linear distance from the current position; (b)
The shortest travel distance from the current position; (c)
One or more conditions that a traffic light or a destination display board is present at an intersection of a corresponding exit and a road link outside the facility; and a predetermined condition for selecting the optimal exit. Is what you do.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided the navigation apparatus, wherein (a) the straight-line distance from the current position is the shortest, (b) the traveling distance from the current position is the shortest, or (c). The traffic light or the destination signboard at the intersection of the applicable exit and the road link outside the facility is set as the predetermined condition for selecting the optimal exit, and the optimal exit is selected from the multiple exits of the facility. To present.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the navigation device according to the first or second aspect, further comprising a destination route searching means for searching a recommended route from the current position to the destination based on the map information, The means selects the exit having the largest bend angle at a connection point connected to the recommended route to the destination among the plurality of exits as an optimal exit.

In the navigation apparatus according to the fourth aspect of the present invention, a recommended route from the current position to the destination is searched based on the map information, and a connection point for connecting with the recommended route to the destination among a plurality of exits of the facility. The one with the largest bend angle at is selected and presented as the optimal exit.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the navigation device according to the first or second aspect, further comprising a destination route searching means for searching a recommended route from the current position to the destination based on the map information, The means selects an exit having the shortest distance from the current position to a connection point connected to a recommended route to the destination via the exit.

In the navigation apparatus according to the fifth aspect of the present invention, a recommended route from the current position to the destination is searched for based on the map information. The exit having the shortest distance to the connection point connected to the recommended route is selected and presented as the optimal exit.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a computer-readable recording medium, wherein the step (1) of detecting a current position of the vehicle is performed based on map information when the detected current position is within a specific facility. (2) searching for a facility exit, and when there are a plurality of facility exits,
A step (3) of selecting an optimal exit by applying a predetermined judgment condition; and a step (4) of presenting the optimal exit.
Are recorded.

In the computer-readable recording medium according to the sixth aspect of the present invention, the program recorded on the computer-readable medium is executed by the computer, whereby the computer performs the operation of the navigation device according to the first aspect of the present invention.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the computer-readable recording medium of the sixth aspect, in the step (3), if a road outside one or a plurality of connected facilities at the exit is a narrow road, A connection point between the narrow road and the main road is regarded as an exit, and the predetermined determination condition is applied.

In the computer-readable recording medium according to the seventh aspect of the present invention, the program recorded on the computer-readable medium is executed by the computer, whereby the computer performs the operation of the navigation device according to the second aspect of the present invention.

The invention according to claim 8 is the computer-readable recording medium according to claim 6 or 7, wherein in the step (3), (a) the linear distance from the current position is the shortest; One or more conditions that the traveling distance from the current position is the shortest, and (c) that a traffic light or a destination display board is present at an intersection between a relevant exit and a road link outside the facility, This is a predetermined condition for selecting an optimal exit.

In the computer-readable recording medium according to the eighth aspect of the present invention, the program recorded on the computer-readable recording medium is executed by the computer, whereby the computer performs the operation of the navigation device according to the third aspect of the present invention.

According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the computer-readable recording medium according to the sixth or seventh aspect, further comprising a step (5) of searching for a recommended route from the current position to the destination based on the map information. In step (3),
Among the plurality of exits, the exit having the largest bend angle at a connection point connected to the recommended route to the destination is selected as an optimal exit.

In the computer-readable recording medium according to the ninth aspect of the present invention, the program recorded on the computer-readable medium is executed by the computer, whereby the computer performs the operation of the navigation device according to the fourth aspect of the present invention.

According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, in the computer readable recording medium of the sixth or seventh aspect, the method further comprises a step (5) of searching for a recommended route from the current position to a destination based on map information. In the step (3), an exit having a shortest distance from the current position to a connection point connected to the recommended route to the destination via the exit is selected.

In the computer-readable recording medium according to the tenth aspect of the present invention, the program recorded on the computer-readable medium is executed by the computer, whereby the computer performs the operation of the navigation device according to the fifth aspect of the present invention.

[0028]

According to the navigation apparatus of the first aspect of the present invention, when there are a plurality of exits at the facility where the vehicle is located, it is possible to select and present the optimal exit to use from the current position. it can.

According to the navigation apparatus of the second aspect, when there are a plurality of exits at the facility where the vehicle is located, it is possible to select and present an exit that is optimal for exiting on the main road.

According to the navigation device of the third aspect of the present invention, an exit having a high probability of being used in the shortest time is selected and presented from the current position of the own vehicle, or an exit which is easy to get on the main road is selected. Can be presented.

According to the navigation device of the fourth aspect of the present invention, it is possible to select and present an exit that is easy to drive to get on the recommended route to the destination.

According to the navigation device of the fifth aspect of the present invention, it is possible to select and present an exit that has a high probability of getting to the recommended route to the destination in the shortest time.

According to the computer-readable recording medium of the present invention, by executing the program recorded on the recording medium by the computer, when there are a plurality of exits in the facility where the vehicle is located, the current position is determined. A navigation device that selects and presents an exit that is optimal for use from a user can be realized.

According to the computer-readable recording medium of the present invention, the program recorded on the computer-readable recording medium is executed by a computer, so that when there are a plurality of exits in the facility where the vehicle is located, the main road Navigation device that selects and presents an optimal exit for exiting.

According to the computer-readable recording medium of the present invention, by executing the program recorded on the recording medium by the computer, an exit having a high probability of being used in the shortest time from the current position of the own vehicle is selected. It is possible to realize a navigation device that presents an exit or selects and presents an exit that is easy to exit on a main road.

According to the computer-readable recording medium of the ninth aspect of the present invention, the program recorded on the computer-readable recording medium is executed by the computer to select an exit that is easy to drive to get on the recommended route to the destination. And a navigation device for presenting the information.

According to the computer-readable recording medium of the tenth aspect of the present invention, the program recorded on the computer-readable recording medium is executed by the computer, so that the exit which has a high probability of being able to go on the recommended route to the destination in the shortest time is possible. It is possible to realize a navigation device for selecting and presenting.

[0038]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows a configuration of a navigation device according to a first embodiment of the present invention. In the navigation device of this embodiment, the destination input unit 1
This is an element for the user to input a destination using a user interface such as a remote controller.

The map information storage unit 2 is an element for storing road information 2A, facility information 2B, and route calculation information 2C, and uses a CD-ROM, DVD-ROM or the like as a recording medium, or via a communication means. To download and use information from a recording medium stored in an external information center.

The road information 2A is a set of road link information 2A1 of the minimum unit constituting a road as shown in FIG.
And the road link information 2A1 is the link incidental information 2A1.
1 (index for identifying a road width and a road type), element number data 2A12 indicating the number of constituent links, and point information 2A13 indicating position coordinates of an intersection which is a connection point of link elements. Each point information 2A constituting road link
13 is provided with a pointer of supplementary information as necessary together with the position coordinates. This additional information includes, for example, information on the presence or absence of a traffic light and the presence or absence of a destination guidance display board.

Facility information 2B in map information storage unit 2
As shown in FIG. 3, is composed of a facility shape 2B1, building information 2B2 in the facility, and facility exit information 2B3. The facility shape information 2B1 includes the number of elements of the approximate polygon and point information indicating the coordinates of each vertex to indicate the shape of the facility. The in-facility building information 2B2 includes the number of buildings 2B21 existing in the facility and building information 2B22 indicating the shape of each building. Each building information 2B22 is composed of point information indicating the number of elements of the approximate polygon and coordinates of each vertex, similarly to the information indicating the facility shape.

Further, the facility exit information 2B3 in the facility information 2B includes the number of exits 2B31 and the exit information 2B32. Each exit information 2B32 is composed of exit position coordinates, an outflow direction, the number of road links connected to the exit, and a pointer to each road link.

Route calculation information 2 in map information storage unit 2
C includes a link cost length necessary for route calculation and connection information between road links.

The current position detecting section 3 in the navigation apparatus shown in FIG. 1 uses GPS and DGPS which further uses FM multiplexed information together with this GPS, and further uses a vehicle speed pulse or a gyro as necessary, and Detect the current position.

The map reading section 4 is based on the current position detected by the current position detection section 3 and the destination inputted from the destination input section 1 and a map around the current position and a route including the destination from the current position. The calculation information 2C is read from the map information storage unit 2.

The facility information acquisition unit 5 compares the current position detected by the current position detection unit 3 with the facility information 2B in the map information read by the map reading unit 4, and the current position (own vehicle) exists. Get facility information for a facility.

The route calculation unit 6 includes a route calculation information 2C of the destination input from the destination input unit 1 and the map information read by the map reading unit 4, and a facility information 2B obtained by the facility information obtaining unit 5. The route from each exit to the destination is calculated based on the facility exit information 2B3 of the facility. At this time, by using the destination as a start point and each exit as an end point, only one calculation by the Dijkstra method can be completed. In addition,
If the road link connected to the exit is, for example, a narrow road of less than 5 m, a connection point with the main road can be set as the exit.

The connection link selection unit 7 uses the route calculated by the route calculation unit 6 and the road link information 2A1 of the road link connected to each exit obtained from the facility information acquisition unit 5 to determine which road link at each exit. It is checked whether or not it has been selected, and the shape of the road link selected at each exit is obtained from the road link information 2A1 read by the map reading unit 4.

The traffic signal presence / absence determination unit 8
Exit information 2B3 and connection link selector 7 obtained from
From the point supplementary information in the road link information 2A1 of the road link connected to each exit obtained from the above, it is determined whether or not a traffic signal exists at the connection intersection between each exit and the selected road link.

The bend direction and bend angle calculation unit 9 is based on the facility exit information 2B3 obtained from the facility information acquisition unit 5 and the road link information 2A1 of the road link connected to each exit obtained from the connection link selection unit 7. The outflow direction of each exit and the shape of the road link connected to each exit are determined, and the bending direction and the bending angle of each exit and the road connected to it are determined from these information.

This processing will be described with reference to FIG. At a connection point between one exit 101 of the facility 100 and a recommended route 102 from the exit 101 to the destination, an exit 10
The turning direction 104 and the turning angle 105 are determined from the outflow direction 103 and the direction of the connecting road link.

The approximate straight-line distance calculation unit 10 calculates an approximate path length from the current position to the facility exit. The substantially straight line distance is a total distance of straight lines drawn from the current position to each exit so as to pass through the facility and not pass through a building in the facility.

The processing algorithm will be described with reference to FIGS.

(I) The facility outline consists of n vertices,
The vertices adjacent to each other by a line segment from a certain vertex P0 are numbered in order (clockwise or counterclockwise) as P1, P2, P3,.

(Ii) Assume that the current position is O.

(Iii) A straight line is drawn from the current position O toward the corresponding exit direction until it intersects the facility outline. The intersection at this time is defined as Q. The line segment OQ is added to the substantially straight line distance.

(Iv) If the intersection Q is the corresponding exit, the process ends.

(V) The line segment of the facility outline on which the intersection Q is located is PiPi + 1 (i + 1 = 0 when 0 ≦ i <n, i = n−1).

(Vi) If there is a corresponding exit on the line segment PiPi + 1, the distance from the intersection Q to the corresponding exit is added to the substantially straight line distance, and the process ends.

(Vii) Vertices Pi and P of the outline of the facility 100
From i + 1, select the one closer to the relevant exit and
And

(Viii) The line segment QP is added to the substantially straight line distance.

(Ix) Hereinafter, the processing from (iii) is repeated with P ← Q.

By applying this algorithm to the situation shown in FIG. 5, the substantially linear distance from the current position O to the exit B can be obtained as follows. In this situation, a straight line can be connected from the current position O to the exit A. However, if the line from the current position O to the exit B is connected by a straight line shown by a broken line, the vehicle will exit the facility 100. Therefore, at the intersection Q of the straight line drawn from the current position O to the exit B and the outer periphery of the facility 100, the robot moves along the outer periphery of the facility to the vertex P2, and connects the vertex P2 to the exit B with a straight line. And these linear elements R1 to R
The total of 3 is obtained to obtain a substantially linear distance.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 6, a line from the current position O to the exit A can be connected by a straight line, but if a line from the current position O to the exit B is connected by a straight line shown by a broken line, the building 106 in the facility is connected. In the case of a situation that would cause the traffic to pass through the facility 100,
Is applied in a similar manner to each building 106, and when a straight line drawn from the base point toward the exit intersects with the building, it is refracted along the periphery of the building, and thereafter, a process of connecting a straight line to the exit B is repeated. The obtained linear elements are summed up to obtain a substantially linear distance.

The exit selection unit 11 in the navigation apparatus shown in FIG. 1 calculates the route from the destination obtained from the route calculation unit 6 to each exit, the presence / absence of a traffic light at each exit obtained from the traffic presence / absence determination unit 8, and the turning direction. And a connection link direction with respect to the exit outflow direction at each exit obtained from the bending angle calculation unit 9 and a substantially straight distance from the current position obtained from the substantially straight distance calculation unit 10 to each exit.
Choose an exit.

In this case, the algorithm for selecting the optimal exit is set, for example, as follows.

(I) If there is a difference of 1 km or more in the total path length obtained by adding the substantially straight line distance from the current position to each exit and the path length from each exit to the destination, the path having the shortest path length Select the outlet to be connected.

(Ii) If there is no difference of 1 km or more in the total route length, the exit where the traffic light exists at the connection point with the general road is prioritized.

(Iii) In the case where there are a plurality of exits where a traffic light exists at the connection point, as shown in FIG. 7, the exit which can be considered as the easiest to drive based on the bending direction and the bending angle at the connection point. Prioritize.

(Iv) In (ii), when there is no exit where the traffic light exists at the connection point, as shown in FIG. 7, the operation can be considered to be the easiest based on the bending direction and the bending angle at the connection point. Exit is prioritized.

This algorithm is merely an example, and other selection criteria can be adopted.

The route guidance unit 12 provides route guidance from the current position to the exit selected by the exit selection unit 11. This route guidance is shown in FIGS. For example, when there is no exit selected in the traveling direction of the vehicle, the entire facility 100 is displayed as shown in FIG.
Are displayed so that the positional relationship of the symbols can be understood. On the other hand, when there is an exit selected in the traveling direction of the vehicle, as shown in FIG. 9, the current position O and the selected exit G are both displayed on a reduced scale.

Next, the operation of the navigation device having the above configuration will be described with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS. First, the current position information is obtained from the current position detection unit 3 (step S1), and the destination is obtained from the destination input unit 2 (step S2).

Subsequently, the map reading unit 4 reads from the map information storage unit 2 a map around the current position and map data (route calculation information) necessary for calculating a route from the current position to the destination (step S3).

Then, from the current position read in step S1 and the map data read in step S3, it is specified which facility the current position is in, and the facility information is obtained (step S4). The number of facility exits is obtained from the facility exit information, and the number is set to num (step S5).

Next, it is checked whether or not the number of exits num exceeds 1; if the number of exits num exceeds 1, the process proceeds to step S7; if the number of exits is 1 or less, the process proceeds to step S17 (step S6). .

In step S7, the route calculation unit 6 calculates a route from the destination to each exit of the facility using the destination position acquired in step S2 and the facility exit information acquired in step S4.

Subsequently, i = 0 is set (step S8), and thereafter, the processing of steps S9 to S14 is repeated.

At step S9, the connection link selecting section 7 selects a link on the route from the road links connected to the exit i at the exit i based on the route calculation result at step S7. Let this link be link [i]. Further, the distance Lr [i] from the exit i to the destination is obtained.

In step S10, the substantially straight distance calculating unit 1
Based on 0, the approximate linear distance Lf [i] from the current position to the exit i is calculated. In step S11, the traffic light presence / absence determining unit 8 determines whether or not a traffic light is present at a connection point between the exit i and the connection road. Further, in step S12, the bending direction and the bending angle calculation unit 9 calculate li for the exit outflow direction.
The bending direction and the bending angle θe (i) of the connection link of nk [i] are calculated.

In step S13, 1 is added to the identification number i, and it is checked in step S14 whether or not the processing in steps S9 to S12 has been completed for all the exits.

Steps S9 to S1 for all exits
When the processing of step 2 is completed, in step S15, the connection links for all exits, the distance from the exit to the destination, the substantially linear distance from the current position to the exit, the presence or absence of a traffic light at the exit, and the exit direction of the exit Are determined, the exit selecting unit 11 determines an optimal exit using an evaluation function having these as arguments. As the determination algorithm, the above-described algorithm may be employed, or an algorithm may be employed in which each condition is weighted and added for each exit to determine an optimal exit.

In step S16, the route guidance unit 12 performs route guidance to the exit selected in step S15.

If there is only one exit, the flow branches to NO in step S6, branches to YES in step S17, sets i = 0 (step S18), and performs route guidance to this exit (step S18). S17, S18, S16). If there is no exit information at the facility, step S17
To branch to NO and end without performing exit route guidance.

As described above, the navigation apparatus of the first embodiment searches for a recommended route from each of a plurality of exits of a facility to a destination based on the map information, and further searches each exit from the current position in the facility. , The exit having the shortest path length from the current position to the destination via the exit can be selected, and the route from the current position to the exit can be guided.

Further, according to the navigation device of the present embodiment, when there is no difference in the route length from the current position to the destination via the exit, the general road ahead of the exit among the plurality of exits is used. The exit at which the traffic light exists at the connection point with is preferentially selected, so that it is possible to present an exit that is easy for the user to go to a general road.

Further, according to the navigation apparatus of the present embodiment, when there are a plurality of such exit candidates, whether or not there is a traffic light at the connection point ahead of the exit, the connection point In consideration of the turning direction and the turning angle at, the user preferentially selects an exit that is easy to enter the general road,
The exit can be presented.

In the above-described embodiment, a substantially straight-line distance from the current position to each exit is calculated for selecting an exit.
To speed up the processing, simply determine the straight-line distance from the current position to each exit, regardless of whether it passes inside or outside the facility or whether it passes through a building inside the facility. You may do so. If there is road information in the facility, a route from the current position to each exit may be searched, and the length of the route may be determined and compared.

Further, in the navigation apparatus according to the above-described embodiment, the configuration shown in FIG. 1 is employed. This is achieved by installing a navigation program for executing the above-described processing in a computer and driving the CD-ROM or DVD-ROM. ,
Input means such as a keyboard, a pointing device, and a joystick, a display output device such as a liquid crystal display, and an audio output device such as a speaker can be connected to the computer or replaced by an integrated system. The navigation program can be incorporated into the computer by reading the navigation program from a CD-ROM or DVD-ROM in which the navigation program is recorded, or by downloading the navigation program from an external storage device using a LAN or other transmission means.

Next, a navigation device according to a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. The navigation device according to the second embodiment includes a first navigation device.
In the case where a plurality of exits are provided in the facility where the own vehicle is present, it is necessary to use any one of the exits from the current position of the own vehicle. It is characterized in that it automatically determines whether it is appropriate and provides route guidance to the exit.

In the navigation apparatus according to the second embodiment shown in FIG. 12, the exit selection command input unit 1 'is operated by, for example, selecting a software button on the display screen with a joystick or other pointing device, or specially. An exit selection command is input by operating the prepared operation button.

In this navigation device, the map information storage unit 2, the current position detection unit 3, the map reading unit 4, the facility information acquisition unit 5, the connection link selection unit 7, the traffic signal presence / absence determination unit 8,
Bending direction and bending angle calculation unit 9, substantially straight distance calculation unit 1
0, the exit selection unit 11, and the route guidance unit 12 are all the same as the corresponding elements of the first embodiment shown in FIG.

Note that the route calculation unit 6, which is indispensable in the first embodiment, is not directly needed in the second embodiment. However, this is necessary when the configuration of the first embodiment is additionally provided with an exit selection command input unit 1 'which is an essential element of the second embodiment.

The map information storage unit 2 in the second embodiment stores road information 2A and facility information 2B similar to those in the first embodiment. However, the route calculation information 2C used in the first embodiment is not essential in the present embodiment. The current position detecting section 3 is the same as in the first embodiment.

The map reading section 4 is provided with an exit selection command input section 1 '.
When the exit selection command is input from the CPU, the map information around the current position of the vehicle is read from the map information storage unit 2 based on the current position detected by the current position detection unit 3.

The facility information acquisition section 5 collates the current position detected by the current position detection section 3 with the facility information 2B in the map information read by the map reading section 4, and finds the current position (own vehicle). Get facility information for a facility.

[0097] The connection link selection unit 7 is a facility information acquisition unit 5
The road link information 2A1 of the road link connected to each of the exits is used to check which road link is selected at each of the exits, and the shape of the road link selected at each of the exits is read into the map reading unit 4. From the existing road link information 2A1. If the road link connected to the exit is, for example, a narrow road such as a general road of less than 5 m, a connection point between the narrow road and the main road is set as the exit,
The above processing may be performed.

The traffic light presence / absence determining section 8 has the same function as that of the first embodiment. Here, whether or not a destination guidance display board is installed at the connection intersection may be added to the determination.

The bending direction and bending angle calculator 9 and the substantially straight line distance calculator 10 are the same as those in the first embodiment.

The exit selecting unit 11 in the navigation apparatus according to the second embodiment determines whether or not there is a traffic light at each of the exits obtained from the traffic light presence / absence determining unit 8 and the outflow at each of the exits obtained from the bending direction and bending angle calculation unit 9. The exit is selected based on the connection link direction with respect to the direction and the approximate linear distance from the current position obtained from the approximate linear distance calculation unit 10 to each exit.

In this case, the algorithm for selecting the optimal exit is set, for example, as follows.

(I) Give priority to an exit where a traffic light exists at a connection point with a general road.

(Ii) In the case where there are a plurality of exits where a traffic signal is present at the connection point, as shown in FIG. 7, the exit which can be considered as the easiest to drive based on the bending direction and the bending angle at the connection point. Prioritize.

(Iii) If there is no exit where a traffic signal exists at the connection point in (i), as shown in FIG. 7, the operation can be considered to be the easiest based on the bending direction and the bending angle at the connection point. Exit is prioritized.

(Iv) If it cannot be determined in (i) to (iii), priority is given to the exit having the shortest straight line distance from the current position.

Note that this algorithm is merely an example, and other selection criteria can be adopted. Further, for example, a selection criterion may be provided with an option of “easiness of appearance” and “minimum time”, and a function of allowing the user to select which criterion is used in advance in the initial setting procedure may be added.

The route guidance unit 12 performs route guidance from the current position to the exit selected by the exit selection unit 11. This route guidance is shown in FIGS. 8 and 9 as in the first embodiment.

Next, the operation of the navigation device having the above configuration will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. When an exit selection command is input from the exit selection command input unit 1 '(step S21), a destination is acquired from the destination input unit 2 (step S22), and the current location is obtained from the map information storage unit 2 by the map reading unit 4. The map information around the position is read (step S23).

Then, from the current position read in step S22 and the map data read in step S23, which facility is located in the current position is specified, and the facility information is obtained (step S24). The number of facility exits is obtained from the facility exit information, and the number is set to num (step S25).

Next, it is checked whether or not the number of exits num exceeds 1, and if the number of exits num exceeds 1, step S27 is performed.
If the number of exits is 1 or less, the process proceeds to step S36 (step S26).

In step S27, i = 0 is set, and thereafter, the processing in steps S28 to S33 is repeated.

At step S28, the connection link selection unit 7
Selects a road link connected to the exit i at the exit i. Let this link be link [i]. Step S
At 29, the substantially straight-line distance calculation unit 10 calculates a substantially straight-line distance Lf [i] from the current position to the exit i. Step S3
At 0, the traffic signal presence / absence determination unit 8 determines whether or not a traffic signal is present at the connection point between the exit i and the connection road. Further, in step S31, the bending direction and the bending angle calculator 9 calculate the bending direction and the bending angle θe (i) of the connection link of link [i] with respect to the outlet outflow direction.

In step S32, 1 is added to the identification number i, and it is checked in step S33 whether or not the processing in steps S28 to S31 has been completed for all the exits. When the processes of steps S28 to S31 are completed for all the exits, in step S34, the connection links for all the exits have already been substantially linear distances from the current position to the exits, the presence or absence of a traffic signal at the exits, and the outflow direction of the exits. Since the direction was determined, the exit selecting unit 11
An optimal exit is determined using an evaluation function having these as arguments. The above-described algorithm can be used for this determination algorithm.

At the next step S35, the route guidance section 12
Thereby, route guidance to the exit selected in step S34 is performed.

If there is only one exit, step S26 branches to NO, step S36 branches to YES, i = 0 is set, and route guidance to this exit is performed (steps S36, S37, S37). S35). Further, if there is no exit information at the facility, the process branches to NO in step S36 and ends without performing route guidance to the exit.

As described above, in the navigation device according to the second embodiment, a substantially straight-line distance from the current position in the facility to each exit is obtained based on the map information, and the distance from the general road ahead of each exit is determined. Whether there is a connection point traffic signal or how much the turn direction and turn angle are required to get out on a general road, preferentially select the exit where the traffic light exists at the connection point with the general road ahead of the exit, Also, in the case where there is a traffic signal at the connection point ahead of the exit or not, and when there are a plurality of such exit candidates, the user considers the bending direction and the bending angle at the connection point and Exits that are easy to enter are prioritized, and if there are a plurality of exit candidates that do not correspond to any of these, the exit having the shortest substantially straight line distance can be selected and presented.

In the above embodiment, a substantially straight-line distance from the current position to each exit is calculated for selecting an exit.
In order to speed up the processing, simply calculate the straight-line distance from the current position to each exit without considering whether to pass inside or outside the facility, and without considering passing through the building inside the facility. Is also good. If there is road information in the facility, a route from the current position to each exit may be searched, and the length of the route may be determined and compared.

Further, as described above, when a plurality of exits are present, as a reference for selecting which one, “distance shortest” or “easiness of exit” is selected by the user by initial setting. Based on that, as the highest priority condition, the exit with the shortest straight line distance is preferentially selected, or conversely, as described above, the exit where the traffic light exists at the previous connection point is prioritized. Or you can. Further, by combining these, by comparing a substantially straight distance from the current position with respect to a plurality of exits, if the difference is within a certain distance (for example, within 100 m), the exit where the traffic light is present is given priority, and A setting may be made such that an exit where the bending angle is small and which is easy to go out has priority.

Further, in the navigation apparatus according to the above-described embodiment, the configuration shown in FIG. 12 is adopted. This is achieved by installing a navigation program for executing the above-described processing in a computer, and driving a CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive. An input device such as a keyboard, a pointing device or a joystick, a display output device such as a liquid crystal display, or an audio output device such as a speaker can be connected to the computer or replaced by an integrated system. The navigation program can be incorporated into the computer by reading the navigation program from a CD-ROM or DVD-ROM in which the navigation program is recorded, or by downloading the navigation program from an external storage device using a LAN or other transmission means.

[Brief description of the drawings]

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

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing the contents of road link information in a map information storage unit according to the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing contents of facility information in a map information storage unit in the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing a bending direction and a bending angle of a connection point between a facility exit and a connection road obtained according to the embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a first explanatory diagram of a substantially linear distance between a current position and a facility exit obtained according to the above embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a second explanatory diagram of a substantially linear distance between the current position and the facility exit obtained according to the embodiment.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing a relationship between a bending direction and a bending angle obtained according to the above-described embodiment and ease of appearance.

FIG. 8 is a route guidance diagram showing the current position and the exit when the selected exit is behind the host vehicle according to the embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a route guidance diagram showing a current position and an exit when the selected exit is present in front of the host vehicle according to the embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a first half of a flowchart of a navigation process according to the embodiment.

FIG. 11 is a latter half of a flowchart of a navigation process according to the embodiment.

FIG. 12 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of a navigation device according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart of a navigation process according to the embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Destination input part 1 'Exit selection command input part 2 Map information storage part 3 Current position detection part 4 Map reading part 5 Facility information acquisition part 6 Route calculation part 7 Connection link selection part 8 Traffic signal existence judgment part 9 Turn direction and turn Angle calculation unit 10 Substantially straight distance calculation unit 11 Exit selection unit 12 Route guidance unit

 ────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Hirohiko Nakayama 2 Takaracho, Kanagawa-ku, Yokohama-shi, Kanagawa Prefecture F-term (reference) 2C032 HC08 HD21 2F029 AA02 AB01 AB07 AC02 AC13 AC18 AD05 5H180 AA01 BB01 BB13 CC12 FF04 FF05 FF07 FF13 FF23 FF25 FF27 FF33

Claims (10)

[Claims] A current position detecting means for detecting a current position of the vehicle; an exit searching means for searching for an exit of the facility based on map information when the detected current position is within a specific facility; A navigation apparatus comprising: exit selection means for selecting an optimal exit by applying a predetermined determination condition when there are a plurality of exits of a facility; and exit presentation means for presenting the optimal exit. 2. If the road outside one or a plurality of connected facilities of the exit is a narrow road, the exit selecting means regards a connection point of the narrow road with a main road as an exit, and The navigation device according to claim 1, wherein the determination condition is applied. 3. The exit selecting means includes: (a) a straight-line distance from the current position is the shortest; (b) a traveling distance from the current position is the shortest; 2. A traffic light or a destination display board at an intersection with a road link outside the facility, wherein one or more of the following conditions are predetermined conditions for selecting the optimum exit. Or the navigation device according to 2. 4. A destination route searching means for searching for a recommended route from the current position to a destination based on the map information, wherein the exit selecting means comprises: The navigation device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein a device having a maximum bend angle at a connection point connected to the recommended route is selected as an optimal exit. 5. A destination route searching means for searching a recommended route from the current position to a destination based on the map information, wherein the exit selecting means is provided from the current position to the destination via the exit. The navigation device according to claim 1, wherein an exit having a shortest distance to a connection point connected to the recommended route is selected. 6. A step (1) of detecting a current position of the vehicle, and a step (2) of searching for an exit of the facility based on map information when the detected current position is within a specific facility.
And a step (3) of selecting an optimal exit by applying a predetermined determination condition when there are a plurality of exits of the facility, and a step (4) of presenting the optimal exit. Computer readable recording medium. 7. In the step (3), if a road outside one or a plurality of connecting facilities of the exit is a narrow road, a connection point of the narrow road with a main road is regarded as an exit, A computer-readable recording medium recording the program according to claim 6, wherein a predetermined determination condition is applied. 8. The step (3) includes: (a) the straight-line distance from the current position is the shortest; (b) the traveling distance from the current position is the shortest; A traffic signal or a destination display board is present at an intersection between the traffic light and a road link outside the facility, wherein one or more of the following conditions are predetermined conditions for selecting the optimum exit. A computer-readable recording medium on which the program according to 6 or 7 is recorded. 9. A step (5) of searching for a recommended route from the current position to a destination based on map information, wherein the step (3) includes recommending a route to the destination among the plurality of exits. The computer-readable recording medium according to claim 6 or 7, wherein a computer having a maximum bending angle at a connection point connected to the path is selected as an optimal exit. 10. A step (5) of searching for a recommended route from the current position to the destination based on the map information, wherein the step (3) includes the step of searching for a recommended route from the current position via the exit to the destination. The computer-readable recording medium according to claim 6, wherein an exit having a shortest distance to a connection point connected to the recommended route is selected.