JP2002195840A - Vehicle navigation system - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Problem] To provide a vehicle navigation system that notifies a driver of a vehicle of driving precautions at a point where the vehicle travels and calls attention to the driver of the vehicle. SOLUTION: A position measuring device 3 for acquiring position information from a satellite 1 to measure the position of a vehicle 3, a database device 4 having a storage medium storing map information, and reading and reading map information from the database device 4. A system control unit 5 for controlling the operation of the entire system;
And an output device 6 for notifying the occupant of the position of the vehicle. The storage medium has the attention information at a predetermined point in the map information, and the system control unit 5 notifies the occupant of the vehicle 2 of the attention information stored in the storage medium to the occupant of the vehicle 2 via the output device 6. With notification function.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a vehicle navigation system, and more particularly to a vehicle navigation system having a function of notifying occupants of a vehicle of predetermined information other than position information.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a vehicular navigation system for displaying a map and a position of a vehicle driven by a user on a display installed in the vehicle has been widely used. This navigation system receives position information from a satellite mounted on the vehicle, and displays the current position of the vehicle in association with a map based on the position information, thereby notifying the occupants of the current position of the vehicle. Is what you do. At this time, a map can be displayed by inserting a storage medium, such as a CD-ROM or a DVD, on which the map information is recorded, into a device mounted on the vehicle.

[0003] In recent years, navigation systems have
A vehicle having a function of automatically calculating a route from a current position of the vehicle to a destination by selecting a destination from information recorded in a storage medium by an occupant of the vehicle and instructing the occupant is also widespread. . The route guidance is not limited to the display on the display, and the guidance by voice is also commercially available. For example, the guidance by voice "turn left at the next traffic light". As a result, if the driver loses his or her route while driving, it is possible to prevent the driver from stopping and looking at the map each time, thereby reducing the time required to reach the destination and suppressing loss of the route. Therefore, safety is improved, and the time required to reach the destination is shortened, so that efficient driving can be achieved.

Further, the information provided to the occupants of the vehicle in this navigation system is not limited to the above-mentioned route information, but also extends to traffic congestion information and sightseeing information. These congestion information and the like are realized by VICS (road traffic information communication system). VICS is the real-time transmission of road traffic information, such as traffic congestion and traffic regulations, edited and processed by the VICS Center to vehicles equipped with VICS-compatible on-board equipment, and displayed on the on-board equipment such as a vehicle display in characters and graphics. System.

[0005] Thereby, the driver can grasp the traffic information of the course in advance, and can reduce the driving time and the luggage transportation time by avoiding the traffic jam. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the transportation cost and to preserve the environment by facilitating traffic.

[0006]

However, the vehicle navigation system in the above-mentioned conventional example has the following disadvantages. That is, although the congestion information, the sightseeing information, and the like are provided to the occupants of the vehicle to improve the comfort of the vehicle user, information about a specific point such as a traffic accident frequently occurring point is not provided. Therefore, although the occupant of the vehicle always drives with caution, there is a problem that the cautions cannot be known particularly at a place where specific caution is required, and the caution is reduced.

[0007] Further, traffic rules at places where traffic signs are difficult to understand or implicit traffic rules by local people are not provided from the navigation system, and the occupants of the vehicle cannot know. Therefore, the occupant of the vehicle may get lost in the way of passing through the predetermined place, and in such a case, there is a problem that attention to the surroundings is distracted.

[0008]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The object of the present invention is to improve the disadvantages of the prior art, in particular, to notify the occupants of the vehicle of driving precautions at the point where the vehicle runs, and to alert the occupants of the vehicle in a zone where traffic accidents frequently occur. It is an object of the present invention to provide a vehicle navigation system.

[0009]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Therefore, the present invention provides a position measuring device for acquiring position information of a vehicle from a satellite and measuring the position of the vehicle, and a database having a storage medium storing map information of a predetermined range. Device and a system control unit that reads map information corresponding to the position information from the database device and controls the operation of the entire system. An output device for notifying the occupant of the vehicle and an input device for the occupant of the vehicle to input a command to the system are provided. The storage medium has the attention information at a predetermined point in the map information, and the system control unit has an attention information notification function of notifying the attention information stored in the storage medium to the occupant of the vehicle via the output device. Is provided (claim 1).

With this configuration, the vehicle acquires the position information of the vehicle from the sanitation, and outputs the position of the vehicle from the output device based on the position information and the map information stored in the storage medium. Is done. Then, when the vehicle approaches the predetermined point, the caution information at the predetermined point stored in the storage medium is notified to the occupant of the vehicle via the output device. Therefore, vehicle occupants, especially drivers,
Since the current position of the vehicle can be known, and the caution information at the time of driving at a predetermined point ahead can be obtained, the driver can drive with sufficient care.

Further, according to the present invention, a position measuring device for acquiring position information of a vehicle from a satellite and measuring the position of the vehicle, a database device having a storage medium storing map information of a predetermined range, A system control unit that reads corresponding map information from the database device and controls the operation of the entire system, and notifies the occupant of the vehicle of the position of the vehicle based on the position information and the map information according to a command from the system control unit. An output device and an input device for inputting a command to the system by an occupant of the vehicle are provided. A warning information receiving device for receiving warning information at a predetermined point in the map information transmitted from the information transmitting device provided in the predetermined area at a predetermined location of the vehicle, wherein the system control unit includes the warning information receiving device; Is provided with a notice information notifying function for notifying the occupant of the vehicle to the occupant via the output device (claim 2).

With this configuration, the position of the vehicle is output to the output device of the vehicle, and when the vehicle approaches a predetermined point, the predetermined point transmitted from the information transmitting device is transmitted. Is notified to the occupant of the vehicle via the output device. Therefore, the occupant of the vehicle, especially the driver, can know the current position of the vehicle, and can also obtain the cautionary information at the time of driving at a predetermined point ahead, especially the latest cautionary information updated at regular intervals. Since information can be obtained, when traveling at the point, pay the necessary attention at that time,
Can drive.

The caution information is transmitted by FM multiplex broadcasting, and the caution information receiving device may be a FM multiplex broadcasting receiving device (claim 3). The caution information receiving device may be an optical beacon receiving device while being transmitted by a beacon (claim 4). Further, the caution information is transmitted by a radio beacon, and the caution information receiving device may be a radio beacon receiving device.

Thus, when the caution information is transmitted by FM multiplex broadcasting, the existing broadcasting equipment can be used and the information can be transmitted over a wide area, so that the occupant of the vehicle can receive the caution information from a distance from the destination. Can be obtained. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the cost of installing the equipment and prepare for the cautions early. Also, when the caution information is transmitted by the optical beacon, only the vehicle that has passed the road on which the optical beacon is installed can obtain the caution information. Therefore, a vehicle that needs attention information, that is, a vehicle heading to a point of attention, can obtain the attention information and can call attention, and a vehicle that does not require attention information is not received. Since the caution information is not displayed on such a vehicle, the provision of extra information during driving to the driver is suppressed. Further, when the caution information is transmitted by a radio beacon, the caution information is provided to a vehicle traveling in a direction in which radio waves are transmitted from the radio beacon. Therefore, the attention information can be efficiently provided to the oncoming vehicle from a distance.

It is desirable that the caution information notification function of the system control unit be activated when the vehicle approaches a predetermined point corresponding to the predetermined caution information. As a result, the occupant of the vehicle is notified of the caution information only when approaching a place requiring attention. Therefore, a caution is prompted when caution is required, so that the driver is prevented from forgetting to pay attention. In addition, it is suppressed that the attention information is notified at a place where the attention is unnecessary, and it is not necessary to pay unnecessary attention.

Further, the caution information at the predetermined point may include information based on past traffic accident data at the predetermined point (claim 7), and the system control unit recognizes the operation of the wiper of the vehicle. In addition to having a weather detection function for detecting the current weather from the operation of the wiper, the caution information at a predetermined point may include information based on the weather (claim 8). In addition, a raindrop sensor is provided at a predetermined location of the vehicle, and the system control unit has a rainfall detection function of detecting an output of the raindrop sensor, and the attention information at the predetermined location may include information based on weather. 9). Further, the system control unit may have the time data, and the attention information at the predetermined point may include information based on the time (claim 10).

[0017] As a result, caution information based on various situations is notified to the occupant (driver) of the vehicle, so that the driver is urged to pay special attention when special attention is required and pays sufficient attention. Can be driven.

[0018]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A first embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a vehicle navigation system according to the present invention. The vehicle navigation system shown in FIG. 1 acquires a position information of a vehicle 2 from a satellite 1 and measures the position of the vehicle 2 and a storage medium (shown in FIG. 1) storing map information of a predetermined range. And a system controller 5 that reads map information corresponding to the position information from the database device 4 and controls the operation of the entire system. An output device 6 for notifying the occupant of the vehicle 2 of the position of the vehicle 2 based on the map information, and an input device 7 for inputting a command to the system by the occupant of the vehicle 2 are provided.

Hereinafter, this will be described in detail.

<Satellite> The satellite 1 is a GPS (Global)
It is a satellite for Positioning System. The GPS satellites 1 orbit about 20,000 km above the ground and are provided in plurality. The satellite 1 transmits information on the position, time, etc. of the satellite 1 to the vehicle 2.

<Vehicle> The vehicle 2 is a vehicle mainly running on a general road, and may be a light vehicle, a large vehicle, or a two-wheeled vehicle. The vehicle 2 includes the position measuring device 3, the database device 4, the system control unit 5, the output device 6, and the input device 7.

<Position Measuring Apparatus> The structure of the position measuring apparatus 3 is shown in FIG. The position measurement device 3 includes a GPS antenna 31, a gyroscope 32, and a position measurement control unit 3.
3 and a position calculation unit 34.

The GPS antenna 31 is an antenna for receiving information such as the position and time of the satellite 1 transmitted from the GPS satellite 1 described above. Gyroscope 32
Is a device for maintaining the reference direction angle. The position measurement control unit 33 is an arithmetic unit that processes information from the GPS antenna 31 and the gyroscope 32. The position calculation unit 34 is a calculation device that performs a predetermined calculation process according to a command from the position measurement unit 33.

Therefore, the position measuring device 3 first uses the GPS
An antenna 31 receives position information and the like from the GPS satellite 1. Subsequently, the position information is received by the position measurement control unit 33, and predetermined information is also acquired from the gyroscope 32. Subsequently, the position measurement control unit 33 instructs the position calculation unit 34 to calculate the position of the vehicle based on the information. Then, the position information of the vehicle calculated by the position calculation unit 34 is sent to the position measurement control unit 33,
The position measurement controller 33 notifies the system controller 5.

<Database Device> Database Device 4
Is a storage medium 41, a read / write device 42, a storage unit 43
And

The storage medium 41 is a storage medium having a predetermined storage capacity, such as a CD-ROM or a DVD-ROM. The storage medium 41 stores map data (map information) in a predetermined range (for example, the Kanto region). The storage medium 4 also stores caution information at a predetermined point in the stored map information. The caution information is information based on past traffic accident data at the predetermined point. For example, the predetermined point is an intersection (hereinafter, a first intersection),
If there are many traffic accidents when making a right turn, "Be careful of oncoming vehicles when making a right turn" according to the map data of the first intersection.
Is stored in the storage medium 41.

The read / write device 42 stores the map data based on the position information notified from the system control unit 5 in response to a command from the system control unit 5 and the caution information corresponding to the map data in the storage unit. It operates to read from the medium 41. Then, the read map data and attention information are transmitted to the system control unit 5. The read / write device 42 stores predetermined data in the storage unit 43. That is, the storage unit 43 has a predetermined storage capacity.

Therefore, in the database device 4, first, the read / write device 42 receives the position information of the vehicle 2 from the system control unit 5 and a command to extract map data based on the position information. Subsequently, the read / write device 42 extracts the map data stored in the storage medium 41 based on the position information from the system control unit 5. Subsequently, if necessary, predetermined information is written to or read from the storage unit 43. Then, the extracted map data is transmitted to the system control unit 5.

<System Control Unit> The system control unit 5
This is an arithmetic unit that controls the operation of the vehicle navigation system itself. The system control unit 5 includes an input device 7
Receives an instruction from the occupant of the vehicle 2 from, performs the processing based on the instruction, executes the processing for measuring the position of the vehicle 2 as described above, and outputs the execution result to the output device 6. .

That is, the system control unit 5 has an operation command receiving function of receiving a command from the input device 7, a position measurement request function of requesting the position measurement device 3 to measure the position of the vehicle 2, and a position information receiving result of the measurement result. A receiving function, a map data extraction command function for transmitting position information to the database device 4 and instructing extraction of map data based on the position information, and map data for receiving the map data and attention information corresponding to the map data. A receiving function, a position information notifying function of transmitting map data to the output device 7 and transmitting position information of the vehicle 2 to notify an occupant of the vehicle 2 of the position of the vehicle, and transmitting caution information to the output device 7 Information notification function for notifying the occupant of the vehicle of the attention information.

The caution information notification function is provided, for example, by the vehicle 2
Outputs the attention information to the output device 7 when the attention information is approaching a certain point. That is, when the vehicle 2 is approaching the above-described first intersection, the information of “watch out for an oncoming vehicle when turning right” is notified to the occupant of the vehicle 2.

However, the attention information notifying function is not limited to notifying the occupant of the vehicle 2 of the attention information corresponding to the point when the vehicle 2 approaches a predetermined point. The notification may be made in a place far from the point requiring attention. That is,
Attention information existing in the traveling direction of the vehicle 2 may be notified at any position. Therefore, the notice position (timing) information of the notice information may be included in the notice information, and the system control unit 5 may notify based on the notice position (timing) information. Specifically, for example, when the vehicle is approaching 1 km before the point.

The above functions other than the caution information notification function operate in the same manner as the functions in the conventional vehicle navigation system, and thus the description thereof is omitted.

<Output Device> The output device 6 is configured to notify the occupant of the vehicle 2 of map data, attention information, and the like transmitted from the system control unit 5 by image or voice. That is, it includes an image display device (display) 61, a voice synthesis device 62, an amplifier 63, and a speaker 64.

<Input Device> The input device 7 includes a remote controller, and notifies the system controller 5 of a command from the occupant of the vehicle 2 by operating the remote controller. That is, the remote control is provided with a joystick 71, various operation buttons 72, and a microphone unit 73. The voice command from the microphone unit 73 is notified to the system control unit 5 via a voice recognition device 74 provided in the remote control or the navigation system body.

The command from the occupant notified from the input device 7 to the system control unit 5 is, for example, destination information. The occupant operates the pointer on the map displayed on the display serving as the output device 6 with the joystick 71, and makes a selection with the operation button 72 or the microphone unit 73 when the pointer points to the destination. Thereby, the destination information is notified to the system control unit 5, and the control unit 5 calculates a route from the current position of the vehicle 2 to the destination. That is, the system control unit 5 has a route calculation function. Then, the calculated route is notified to the occupant via the display.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described.

First, while the vehicle 2 is running, the position of the vehicle 2 is displayed on the display as the output device 6 together with a map of the surroundings of the current location, as in the conventional vehicle navigation system. At this time, the map data displayed on the display is data stored in the storage medium 41 of the database device 4 and transmitted from the storage medium 41 to the system control unit 5,
Attention information at a predetermined point in the map data is transmitted to the system control unit 5 together with the map data.

Subsequently, the occupant operates the remote controller which is the input device 7, moves the map on the display, and selects a destination. Then, based on your current location and destination,
The system control unit 5 calculates an optimum route.

Subsequently, the occupant travels to the destination with reference to the calculated route. Then, when the vehicle 2 is approaching a predetermined point where the above-mentioned caution information is prepared during traveling, the caution information at the predetermined point is displayed on the display as image information or on the speaker 64 as audio information. Will be notified.

Then, referring to the caution information, the occupant travels with caution at the point where the caution is given.

By doing so, the occupant of the vehicle 2 can know the attention information at a predetermined point which is not included in the ordinary map information, in conjunction with the map data displayed on the display. You can drive with great care at the point.

Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

The vehicle navigation system according to the second embodiment has substantially the same components as the navigation system according to the first embodiment described above. And in the said 2nd Embodiment, the alert information based on weather is further included. This will be described in detail below.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the database device 140 and the system control unit 150 in the second embodiment.

Storage medium 141 of database device 140
In the same manner as the storage medium 41 in the first embodiment,
The map data 142 and the attention information 142 are stored. The caution information 142 further includes weather-based caution information, for example, information of "watch out for motorcycles when it rains". In addition, the attention information 142 includes attention information based on the season and time.

In response to this, the system control unit 5 has a weather detection function of recognizing the operation of the wiper of the vehicle 2 and detecting the current weather from the operation of the wiper. In addition, a raindrop sensor for detecting rainfall is provided at a predetermined location of the vehicle 1, and the system control unit 5 is provided with a rainfall detection function for detecting an output of the raindrop sensor to detect whether or not it is currently raining. I have. This raindrop sensor may be for an automatic wiper for automatically operating the wiper by detecting rainfall. Further, the system control unit 5 has date data and time data 151, and these data 15
A function for calculating the season and time from 1 is provided (see FIG. 6).

Therefore, the caution information 143 stored in the storage medium 141 of the database device 140 is a table 143a as shown in FIG. That is, the caution information table 143a includes an intersection name (Roppongi), latitude and longitude (35.39.37, 139.44.47), approach direction (Southeast), season (summer), time zone (night), weather (rain) )
Data. Then, by using these as independent variables, driving precautions (beware of the involvement of the motorcycle) meeting these conditions are output to the output device 6.

Here, for example, in a case where a traffic accident involving a motorcycle occurs frequently in rainy weather at a predetermined intersection (second intersection), that is, FIG.
The operation when the attention information table shown in FIG.

First, the system control unit 5 recognizes that the wiper is operating or that the output of the raindrop sensor is large, whereby the system control unit 5 detects that the current weather is rain. Further, the system control unit 5 recognizes that the season is summer and the time zone is night from the date data and the time data.

Subsequently, when the vehicle 2 approaches the Roppongi intersection of the latitude and longitude shown in FIG. 7, a caution information table matching the above-mentioned conditions such as the weather is extracted from the database device 4 among the tables at the Roppongi intersection. . The operation precautions of this table are output device 6
Is displayed on the display, and the occupant of the vehicle 2 can check the caution information, and can pay attention when passing through the Roppongi intersection. As a result, sufficient attention can be given to the driver especially in a time zone in which the accident frequently occurs in the accident-prone area in the past, and the driver can pass with great care.

Next, a third embodiment will be described.

The vehicle navigation system according to the third embodiment has substantially the same components as the navigation system according to the first embodiment described above. In the third embodiment, the caution information is not stored in the storage medium 41 in the database device 4,
The caution information is received from outside via communication. That is, a caution information receiving device (not shown) that receives caution information at a predetermined point in map information transmitted from an information transmitting device (not shown) provided in a predetermined area at a predetermined location of the vehicle 2. In addition, the system control unit 5 has a caution information notification function of notifying the occupant of the vehicle 2 of the caution information received by the caution information receiving device via the output device 6.

Transmission and reception by the information transmitting device and the caution information receiving device are performed, for example, by FM multiplex broadcasting, optical beacon, radio beacon, the Internet using a mobile phone, or the like.

The FM multiplex broadcast is transmitted from an FM broadcast station, and provides general information over a wide area of each prefecture. Therefore, the existing broadcasting facilities such as FM broadcasting stations can be used, and information can be transmitted over a wide area, so that the occupants of the vehicle can obtain caution information from a distant place of the destination and reduce the cost of installing the facilities. At the same time, it is possible to prepare for cautions early.

The optical beacon is installed on a main road and transmits attention information only to the vehicle 2 having the attention information receiving device passing through the road. This optical beacon is suitable for transmitting information on general roads and expressways about 10 to 30 km ahead. Therefore, the vehicle 2 that needs the caution information, that is, the vehicle 2 heading to the caution point, can obtain the caution information and can call for caution.

The radio beacon is mainly installed on a highway, and is suitable for transmitting information on a highway about 200 km ahead and general roads in the vicinity. Therefore, the attention information can be efficiently provided to the oncoming vehicle 2 from a distance.

Further, the transmission of the caution information by the transmission device as described above is performed for 24 hours. Further, since the caution information can be updated, for example, at intervals of 5 minutes, the vehicle 2 can receive the latest caution information at any time, and the driver or the like can pay sufficient attention to the current caution. it can.

[0060]

According to the present invention, the map data is read out from the storage medium and stored in the storage medium when the vehicle approaches a predetermined point. The caution information at a predetermined point is also read out, and this caution information is notified to an occupant of the vehicle via an output device. Therefore, when the vehicle passes through the predetermined point, the driver must pay sufficient attention. And has an unprecedented excellent effect.

Also, without storing the caution information in a storage medium,
When receiving from an external transmission device, the caution information is updated every moment by the external transmission device, so that the occupant of the vehicle can always obtain new caution information and pay more effective attention. Can be.

[Brief description of the drawings]

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

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of the position measuring device disclosed in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of the database device disclosed in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of the output device disclosed in FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of the input device disclosed in FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a database device and a system control unit according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing data contents of a table of attention information disclosed in FIG. 6;

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 1 satellite (GPS satellite) 2 vehicle 3 position measuring device 4 database device 5 system control unit 6 output device 7 input device 41 storage medium

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page F term (reference) 2C032 HB05 HB22 HB24 HC27 2F029 AA02 AB01 AB07 AB09 AC01 AC02 AC04 AC13 AC18 5H180 AA01 BB02 BB04 BB13 EE18 FF04 FF05 FF22 FF25 FF27 FF32 FF38

Claims (10)

[Claims] 1. A position measuring device for acquiring position information of a vehicle from a satellite and measuring the position of the vehicle, a database device having a storage medium storing map information of a predetermined range,
A system control unit that reads the map information corresponding to the position information from the database device and controls the operation of the entire system, and the vehicle based on the position information and the map information according to a command from the system control unit. A vehicle navigation system including an output device for notifying the occupant of the vehicle of the position of the vehicle and an input device for inputting a command to the system by the occupant of the vehicle. A vehicle having notice information at a point and having a notice information notifying function of notifying the occupant of the vehicle of the notice information stored in the storage medium to the occupant of the vehicle via the output device. Navigation system. 2. A position measurement device for acquiring position information of a vehicle from a satellite and measuring the position of the vehicle, a database device having a storage medium storing map information of a predetermined range,
A system control unit that reads the map information corresponding to the position information from the database device and controls the operation of the entire system, and the vehicle based on the position information and the map information according to a command from the system control unit. A vehicle navigation system including an output device for notifying the position of the vehicle to the occupant of the vehicle, and an input device for inputting a command to the system by the occupant of the vehicle. A warning information receiving device that receives warning information at a predetermined point in the map information transmitted from the information transmitting device, wherein the system control unit transmits the warning information received by the warning information receiving device to the vehicle. Vehicle navigation system having a caution information notification function for notifying an occupant via the output device. System. 3. The vehicle navigation system according to claim 2, wherein the caution information is transmitted by FM multiplex broadcasting, and the caution information receiving device is a FM multiplex broadcasting receiving device. 4. The vehicular navigation system according to claim 2, wherein the attention information is transmitted by an optical beacon, and the attention information receiving device is an optical beacon receiving device. 5. The vehicular navigation system according to claim 2, wherein the caution information is transmitted by a radio beacon, and the caution information receiving device is a radio beacon receiving device. 6. The attention information notification function of the system control unit is activated when the vehicle approaches a predetermined point corresponding to the predetermined attention information. 6. The vehicle navigation system according to 4 or 5. 7. The vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the caution information at the predetermined point includes information based on past traffic accident data at the predetermined point. Navigation system. 8. The system control unit has a weather detection function of recognizing an operation of a wiper of the vehicle and detecting a current weather from the operation of the wiper. 7. The method according to claim 1, further comprising information based on the information.
Or the vehicle navigation system according to 7. 9. A raindrop sensor is provided at a predetermined location of the vehicle, and the system control unit has a rainfall detection function of detecting an output of the raindrop sensor. The caution information at the predetermined point is information based on weather. 7. The method according to claim 1, wherein:
Or the vehicle navigation system according to 7. 10. The system control unit according to claim 1, wherein the system control unit has time data, and the attention information at the predetermined point includes information based on time.
10. The vehicle navigation system according to 6, 7, 8 or 9.