JP2012168145A - Device, method, and program for guiding lane - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a technology for facilitating recognition of a recommended lane.SOLUTION: A lane guiding device comprises: reference lane specifying means for specifying a reference lane existing at a lateral end in a travelling direction of the vehicle among a plurality of lanes contained a road; travelling lane specifying means for specifying a lane on which the vehicle travels among the plurality of lanes; recommended lane specifying means for specifying a recommended lane on which the vehicle should travel among the plurality of lanes; and recommended lane guiding means for guiding a position of the recommended lane by using the number of lanes being the smaller one of a first number of lanes counted starting from an adjacent lane being adjacent to the recommended lane side of the travelling lane to the recommended lane and a second number of lanes counted starting from the reference lane to the recommended lane.

Description

  The present invention relates to a lane guidance apparatus, method, and program for guiding a position of a recommended lane in which a vehicle should travel.

  Conventionally, an apparatus for guiding a position of a recommended lane that a vehicle should travel is known (Patent Document 1, Reference, 0121). This document discloses that the position of a recommended lane is guided using the number of lanes counted from the lane at the end of the road. Thus, the driver can recognize the recommended lane by counting the lane from the end of the road by the number of guided lanes.

JP 2007-266975 A

However, if the recommended lane is a lane far from the end of the road and the number of lanes guided as the recommended lane position is large, the lane count is complicated, and the number of lanes to the recommended lane is accurately counted. There was a problem that it became difficult.
The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object thereof is to provide a technique for easily recognizing a recommended lane.

  In order to achieve the above object, in the present invention, the reference lane specifying means specifies a reference lane that exists at an end of the vehicle in the traveling direction side among a plurality of lanes included in the road. The travel lane identifying means identifies a travel lane in which the vehicle travels from a plurality of lanes. The recommended lane identifying means identifies a recommended lane that the vehicle should travel from among a plurality of lanes. The recommended lane guidance means includes the first lane number, which is the number of lanes counted from the adjacent lane adjacent to the recommended lane side with respect to the travel lane, and the lane counted from the reference lane to the recommended lane. The position of the recommended lane is guided using the smaller one of the number of second lanes.

  In the above configuration, the driver can easily recognize the traveling lane in which the vehicle is traveling, so the number of lanes corresponding to the first lane is calculated from the adjacent lane adjacent to the recommended lane with respect to the traveling lane. The recommended lane can be easily recognized by counting. Since the first lane number means the number of lane changes necessary to move the vehicle from the travel lane to the recommended lane, the vehicle moves to the recommended lane by counting the number of lane changes by the first lane number. Can be moved. On the other hand, the driver can easily recognize the reference lane that exists at the end of the road on which the vehicle travels. Therefore, the driver can easily recognize the recommended lane by counting the second lane from the reference lane. . As described above, the driver can recognize the recommended lane by both the guidance using the first lane number and the guidance using the second lane number, but the recommended lane guide means has the first lane number and the second lane number. Therefore, the number of times the lane is counted before the driver recognizes the recommended lane can be suppressed. Therefore, the driver can easily recognize the recommended lane.

  The reference lane identifying means only needs to identify the reference lane present at the end of the vehicle in the traveling direction, and the lane present at the right end when the front in the traveling direction is viewed in front may be used as the reference lane. The lane present at the left end may be used as the reference lane. Further, the position of the end of the road where the reference lane exists may be switched between right and left in accordance with the shape of the road, the traveling state of the vehicle, and the like. Further, the end of the road is not limited to the boundary between the road and the road other than the road, but includes the boundary between the road and the other road. That is, when a road having a plurality of lanes in which the direction in which the vehicle travels is adjacent to an opposite road having an opposite lane in which the vehicle travels in the opposite direction to the road, the boundary between these roads is also a road. Included at the end.

  The travel lane identifying means may identify the travel lane on which the vehicle travels, and can identify the travel lane by an optical method, an electromagnetic method, communication with other devices, or the like. For example, the traveling lane identifying unit may capture a surrounding image of the vehicle and identify the traveling lane based on the positions of various feature images in the surrounding image. The traveling lane identifying means may identify the traveling lane based on the image of the boundary line of the lane or the position of the image of the structure (road sign etc.) attached to the road. The traveling lane specifying unit may acquire lane information about a traveling road on which the vehicle is traveling from the database, and may specify the traveling lane in consideration of the lane information. Further, the travel lane identifying means may identify the travel lane based on electromagnetic waves received from an external device. For example, when a road is provided with a device that transmits electromagnetic waves carrying different data for each lane to the vehicle, the traveling lane identifying means may identify the traveling lane based on the electromagnetic waves received from the device.

  The recommended lane identifying means may identify a recommended lane that the vehicle should travel, and the recommended lane can be recommended based on various viewpoints. For example, when a planned travel route of a vehicle for reaching the destination is set, the recommended lane identifying unit may identify a lane that can enter a road on the planned travel route as the recommended lane. The recommended lane specifying means may specify a lane in which the vehicle can smoothly travel as a recommended lane based on traffic conditions such as traffic jams and the presence or absence of obstacles.

  The recommended lane guide means compares the number of the first lane and the number of the second lane, and specifies the smaller one of the number of the first lane and the number of the second lane. Then, the recommended lane guidance means guides the position of the recommended lane using the identified first lane number or second lane number. The recommended lane guidance means may guide the position of the recommended lane by voice using the first lane number or the second lane number, or may guide the position of the recommended lane by an image, or both of them. The position of the recommended lane may be guided.

  When the first lane number and the second lane number are equal, the recommended lane guide means may guide the position of the recommended lane using the first lane number. The travel lane is a lane in which the vehicle travels, and is the lane that is most easily recognized by the driver. Therefore, by guiding the position of the recommended lane using the first lane number based on the traveling lane, the recommended lane can be more easily indicated to the driver than when the recommended lane position is guided using the second lane number. Can be recognized.

  Furthermore, the method of guiding recommended lanes with the smaller number of lanes as in the present invention can be applied as a program or method. In addition, the above-described device, program, and method may be realized as a single device or may be realized by using components shared with each part of the vehicle, and include various aspects. It is a waste. For example, it is possible to provide a navigation device, a method, and a program that include the above devices. Further, some changes may be made as appropriate, such as a part of software and a part of hardware. Furthermore, the invention is also established as a recording medium for a program for controlling the apparatus. Of course, the software recording medium may be a magnetic recording medium, a magneto-optical recording medium, or any recording medium to be developed in the future.

It is a block diagram of the navigation apparatus containing a lane guidance apparatus. (2A) is a lane guidance process, and (2B) is a flowchart showing a lane number determination process. (3A) (3B) is a figure which shows a road.

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

(1) Configuration of navigation device:
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a navigation device 10 including a lane guide device according to the present invention. The navigation device 10 is provided in the vehicle V. The navigation device 10 includes a control unit 20 and a recording medium 30. The control unit 20 includes a CPU, a RAM, a ROM, and the like, and executes a program stored in the recording medium 30 or the ROM. The recording medium 30 records map information 30a. The map information 30a includes node data indicating nodes set corresponding to the end points of the road, link data indicating information on roads between the nodes, shape interpolation point data for specifying the shape of the roads between the nodes, , Data indicating the features on the road and its surroundings, and the like. The link data includes the number of lanes of the lane included in the road, the lane number uniquely assigned to the lane, the approach road (link) that can be entered when the lane travels to the position corresponding to the end of the link, and the lane Attributes (bus-only lanes, uphill lanes, broken-off vehicle lanes, etc.) and boundary lines separating adjacent lanes, and types of boundaries separating lanes and shoulders (straight lines, broken lines, intervals between broken lines, colors, etc.) Lane information indicating that is included. In the present embodiment, the road is constituted by lanes in which the traveling directions of the vehicles are substantially the same (for example, within a predetermined angle), and the lanes in which the traveling directions are substantially opposite belong to different roads. . The road ends mean the left and right ends when the front of the vehicle in the traveling direction is viewed from the front. Further, the lane number indicated by the lane information is incremented by 1 from the lane located at the left end of the road (assumed as 1) toward the right side.

  In addition, the vehicle V in the present embodiment includes a GPS receiving unit 41, a vehicle speed sensor 42, a gyro sensor 43, an in-vehicle camera 44, and a user I / F unit 45. The GPS receiver 41 receives radio waves from GPS satellites and outputs a signal for calculating the current position of the vehicle V via an interface (not shown). The control unit 20 acquires this signal and acquires the current position of the vehicle V. The vehicle speed sensor 42 outputs a signal corresponding to the rotational speed of the wheel provided in the vehicle V. The control unit 20 acquires this signal via an interface (not shown) and acquires the vehicle speed of the vehicle V. The gyro sensor 43 outputs a signal corresponding to the angular velocity acting on the vehicle V. The control unit 20 acquires this signal via an interface (not shown), and acquires the traveling direction of the vehicle V. The vehicle speed sensor 42 and the gyro sensor 43 are used for correcting the current position of the vehicle V specified from the output signal of the GPS receiver 41.

  The in-vehicle camera 44 includes a predetermined range around the vehicle V in the field of view, and captures surrounding image data indicating a surrounding image of the vehicle V. The peripheral image data captured by the in-vehicle camera 44 is output to the control unit 20 via an interface (not shown). The control unit 20 specifies a travel lane in which the vehicle V travels based on the peripheral image indicated by the peripheral image data. In the present embodiment, the horizontal angle of view of the in-vehicle camera 44 is set so that an image from one end to the other end on the side of the traveling direction of the traveling road is included in the peripheral image. The peripheral image may be taken by a plurality of in-vehicle cameras 44. The user I / F unit 45 includes an output device that outputs various guides based on a control signal output from the control unit 20. The output device of the user I / F unit 45 of the present embodiment includes a speaker that outputs guidance by voice and a display that outputs guidance by image.

The lane guidance program 21 includes a reference lane identifying unit 21a, a traveling lane identifying unit 21b, a recommended lane identifying unit 21c, and a recommended lane guiding unit 21d.
The reference lane specifying unit 21a is a module that causes the control unit 20 to execute a function of specifying a reference lane that exists at the end of the vehicle V in the traveling direction among a plurality of lanes included in the road. That is, by the function of the control unit 20, the control unit 20 specifies the current position of the vehicle V based on the output signals of the GPS reception unit 41, the vehicle speed sensor 42, and the gyro sensor 43, and refers to the link data of the map information 30 a. By doing so, the traveling road on which the vehicle V currently travels is specified. With the function of the reference lane specifying unit 21a, the control unit 20 acquires lane information about the travel road, and specifies the lane located at the end of the travel road as the reference lane based on the lane information. In the present embodiment, the lane located at the left end of the traveling road, that is, the lane with the lane number 1 is set as the reference lane.

  The travel lane identification unit 21b is a module that causes the control unit 20 to execute a function of identifying a travel lane in which the vehicle V travels from a plurality of lanes. That is, by the function of the traveling lane identifying unit 21b, the control unit 20 identifies the traveling lane in which the vehicle V travels based on the surrounding image captured by the in-vehicle camera 44. Specifically, a boundary line image of the lane is extracted from the surrounding image by a known straight line detection method such as Hough transform, and the relative relationship between the boundary line image and the position of the vehicle V (the position of the in-vehicle camera 44). The driving lane is specified based on the above. That is, the control unit 20 specifies the number of boundary lines from which the image is extracted from the region taken from the left side of the vehicle V among the boundary lines from which images are extracted from the surrounding images, and travels the number of the boundary lines. Specify as the lane number of the lane. In the pattern matching, the line type of the boundary line may be distinguished based on the lane information regarding the traveling road.

  The recommended lane specifying unit 21c is a module that causes the control unit 20 to execute a function of specifying a recommended lane that the vehicle V should travel from among a plurality of lanes. In the present embodiment, the control unit 20 searches for the planned travel route for reaching the destination in advance, and the control unit 20 uses the function of the recommended lane identifying unit 21c to cause the control unit 20 to follow the current travel road. The lane of the traveling road that can enter the recommended road to be traveled is identified as the recommended lane.

  The recommended lane guide 21d counts the first lane, which is the number of lanes counted from the adjacent lane adjacent to the recommended lane to the travel lane, and the recommended lane from the reference lane. This is a module that causes the control unit 20 to execute the function of guiding the position of the recommended lane using the smaller one of the second lane numbers that are the number of lanes. Based on the function of the recommended lane guide unit 21d, the control unit 20 determines the number of first lanes and the number of second lanes based on the lane information related to the travel road and the positions of the already specified travel lane, reference lane, and recommended lane. Identify. And by the function of the recommended lane guide unit 21d, the control unit 20 specifies the smaller one of the first lane number and the second lane number, and uses the specified first lane number or second lane number to determine the recommended lane number. Guide the position. Specifically, the control unit 20 outputs to the user I / F unit 45 an audio signal including a smaller one of the first lane number and the second lane number as a part of the guidance message, and the guidance message based on the voice signal. Is output to the user I / F unit 45. If the number of the first lane is less than the number of the second lane, for example, “We recommend that you drive in the left (or right) side of the“ first lane ”lane from the current lane. ”Is output. If the number of second lanes is less than the number of first lanes, for example, “We recommend that you drive in the lane of the“ second lane number ”lane from the left lane of the road. ”Is output. When the first lane number and the second lane number are equal, the control unit 20 uses the function of the recommended lane guide unit 21d to guide the position of the recommended lane using the first lane number.

  According to the above configuration, since the driver can recognize the traveling lane in which the vehicle V is traveling, the driver can recognize the recommended lane by counting the lanes by the number of the first lane based on the traveling lane. Further, since the driver can recognize the reference lane that exists at the end of the road on which the vehicle V travels, the driver can recognize the recommended lane by counting the number of lanes by the number of the second lane based on the reference lane. As described above, the driver can recognize the recommended lane by both the guidance using the first lane number and the guidance using the second lane number. However, the control unit 20 uses the function of the recommended lane guide unit 21d to Since the position of the recommended lane is guided using the smaller one of the number of lanes and the number of second lanes, it is possible to suppress the number of counts until the driver recognizes the recommended lane. Therefore, the driver can easily identify the recommended lane.

  In the present embodiment, when the first lane number and the second lane number are equal, the control unit 20 guides the position of the recommended lane using the first lane number by the function of the recommended lane guide unit 21d. The travel lane is a lane in which the vehicle V travels and is the lane that is most easily recognized by the driver. Therefore, by guiding the position of the recommended lane using the first lane number based on the traveling lane, the recommended lane can be more easily indicated to the driver than when the recommended lane position is guided using the second lane number. Can be recognized.

(2) Lane guidance processing:
Next, the lane guidance process executed by the function of the lane guidance program 21 will be described. 2A is a flowchart of the lane guidance process, and FIG. 2B is a flowchart of the lane number determination process. 3A and 3B are schematic diagrams illustrating roads on which the vehicle V travels. The lane guidance process of FIG. 2A is executed at a predetermined time cycle or a predetermined travel distance cycle. In step S100 of FIG. 2A, the control unit 20 acquires the peripheral image data from the in-vehicle camera 44 by the function of the traveling lane specifying unit 21b, and extracts the image of the boundary line of the lane from the peripheral image indicated by the peripheral image data. In step S <b> 110, the control unit 20 uses the function of the traveling lane specifying unit 21 b to determine the number of boundary lines from which images are extracted from the region taken from the left side of the vehicle V among the boundary lines from which images are extracted from the surrounding images. The number of the boundary lines is specified as the lane number N _C of the traveling lane C. In the case of FIG. 3A, five boundary line images are extracted from the region taken from the left side of the vehicle V, and the lane number N _C of the traveling lane C is specified as 5.

In step S120, the control unit 20 specifies the distance to the guidance point and the recommended lane. That is, the control unit 20 specifies an intersection that reaches first when the vehicle V continuously travels on the current traveling road based on the map information 30a, and sets the intersection or the branch point as the guide point GP. The control unit 20 acquires the current position of the vehicle V, and acquires the distance D from the current position to the guide point GP. Furthermore, the function of the recommended lane identifying unit 21c allows the control unit 20 to enter the next road that constitutes the planned travel route searched for reaching the destination G from the current travel road at the guidance point GP. identify the lane as the recommended lane E, obtained based lane number N _E of the recommended lane E lane information of the map information 30a.

  In step S130, the control unit 20 determines whether or not the distance D from the current position of the vehicle V to the guidance point GP is shorter than a predetermined guidance target distance. The guidance target distance is a distance necessary for changing the lane, for example, 300 m. When it is determined that the distance D to the guidance point GP is equal to or greater than the guidance target distance, the control unit 20 skips steps S140 to S150 and waits until the next lane number determination process is executed. When it is determined in step S130 that the distance D to the guidance point GP is shorter than the guidance target distance, the control unit 20 executes the lane number determination process (FIG. 2B) in step S140.

Control unit 20 of the function of the recommended lane guidance unit 21d in step S141 in FIG. 2B, identifying a first number of lanes N ₁ counted to the recommended lane E counting from the adjacent lane A. The adjacent lane A is a lane adjacent to the recommended lane E with respect to the travel lane C. That is, if the recommended lane E is on the right side of the travel lane C, the lane on the right side of the travel lane C is the adjacent lane A, and if the recommended lane E is on the left side of the travel lane C, the lane on the left side of the travel lane C Becomes the adjacent lane A. With the function of the recommended lane guide 21d, the control unit 20 specifies the first lane number N ₁ counted from the adjacent lane A to the recommended lane E. The control unit 20 specifies the first lane number N ₁ by obtaining an absolute value of a value obtained by subtracting the lane number N _E of the recommended lane E from the lane number N _C of the travel lane C. In the example of FIG. 3A, N _C = 5, N _E = 2 and the first lane number N ₁ (white circle) is specified as 3, and in the example of FIG. 3B, N _C = 5, N _E = 3 and the first lane. The number N ₁ (white circle) is specified as 2. Note that if N _E = N _C , the driving lane C and the recommended lane E will match, so the first lane number N ₁ is not specified. Is output.

In step S142, by the function of the recommended lane guide 21d, the control unit 20 specifies the second lane number N ₂ counted from the reference lane S to the recommended lane E. Since the lane number N is counted the number from the left end of the lane, which is the reference lane S, the control unit 20 specifies the recommended lane lane number N _E as it second number of lanes N ₂ in E. In the example of FIG. 3A, N _E = 2 and the second lane number N ₂ (double circle) is specified as 2, and in the example of FIG. 3B, N _E = 3 and the second lane number N ₂ (double circle). Is identified as 3.

In step S143, the control unit 20 of the function of the recommended lane guidance unit 21d compares the first number of lanes N ₁ and a second number of lanes N _2. Then, the control unit 20 of the function of the recommended lane guidance unit 21d in step S144, the specific first number of lanes N ₁ and the lesser of the second number of lanes N ₂ as a guide number of lanes. Note that the control unit 20 specifies the first lane number N ₁ as the number of guide lanes when the first lane number N ₁ and the second lane number N ₂ are equal due to the function of the recommended lane guide unit 21d. In the example of FIG. 3A, N ₁ = 3 and N ₂ = 2 and it is specified that the second lane number N ₂ is smaller. In the example of FIG. 3B, N ₁ = 2 and N ₂ = 3 and the first lane number It is specified that N ₁ is less. Thus, the lane number determination process ends, and the process returns to the lane guidance process (S150) of FIG. 2A.

In step S150 in FIG. 2A, the control unit 20 of the function of the recommended lane guidance unit 21d, a first number of lanes N ₁ and lesser of the second number of lanes N _2, or the first number of lanes N ₁ and the second The position of the recommended lane E is guided using the number of guide lanes which is the first lane number N ₁ when the lane number N ₂ is equal. When N ₁ <N ₂ and the recommended lane E is on the left side of the driving lane C, the control unit 20 may recommend, for example, “Running the left lane by N ₁ lanes from the current lane. ”Is output to the user I / F unit 45. When N ₁ = N ₂ and the recommended lane E is on the left side of the travel lane C, a similar guidance message is output to the user I / F unit 45. In the case of the example in Fig. 3B, “It is recommended to drive in the left lane by 2 lanes from the current lane. ”Is output. Thus, the driver can recognize that the lane on the left side by two lanes from the adjacent lane A adjacent to the travel lane C is the recommended lane E. In addition, the driver can recognize that the vehicle V can travel on the recommended lane E if the lane is changed to the left only twice. When N ₁ <N ₂ and the recommended lane E is on the right side of the driving lane C, the control unit 20 may recommend, for example, “running the lane on the right side by N ₁ lane from the current lane. ”Is output to the user I / F unit 45. When N ₁ = N ₂ and the recommended lane E is on the right side of the travel lane C, a similar guidance message is output to the user I / F unit 45.

On the other hand, when N ₁ > N ₂ , the controller 20 recommends, for example, “running the N ₂ lane from the leftmost lane of the road. ”Is output. In the case of the example in Figure 3A, “It is recommended to drive in the second lane from the left lane of the road. ”Is output. As a result, the driver can recognize that the second lane from the left end of the road is the recommended lane E. Also, the number of lanes from the leftmost lane of the road only needs to be counted twice.

(3) Other embodiments:
The above embodiment is an example for carrying out the present invention, and the following embodiment can also be adopted. The control unit 20 may specify the reference lane S existing at the end of the vehicle V in the traveling direction by the function of the reference lane specifying unit 21a, and the lane existing at the right end may be used as the reference lane S. Further, the control unit 20 may switch the position of the end of the road where the reference lane S exists according to the shape of the road, the traveling state of the vehicle V, and the like by the function of the reference lane specifying unit 21a. Further, the control unit 20 may specify the left and right road ends as the reference lane S by the function of the reference lane specifying unit 21a. Then, the control unit 20 may select the second direction which number of lanes N ₂ is less of these criteria lane S as the final reference lane S. In the above-described embodiment, a traveling road having a plurality of lanes in which the direction in which the vehicle V travels is illustrated alone, but an opposite road having an opposite lane in which the vehicle V travels in the opposite direction is adjacent to the traveling road. The boundaries of these roads (boundary lines, median strips, etc.) are also included at the edges of the roads. Therefore, the lane adjacent to the boundary of the opposite road may be used as the reference lane S.

  With the function of the traveling lane identifying unit 21b, the control unit 20 determines the traveling lane C based not only on the boundary image of the lane in the surrounding image but also on the position of the image of the structure (road sign etc.) attached to the road. You may specify. Further, the control unit 20 may specify the traveling lane C based on the electromagnetic wave received from the external device or the like by the function of the traveling lane identifying unit 21b. For example, when a device is provided on the road that transmits electromagnetic waves (beacons) carrying different data for each lane to the vehicle V, the control unit 20 uses the function of the traveling lane specifying unit 21b to detect the electromagnetic waves received from the device. The travel lane C may be specified based on the basis.

With the function of the recommended lane specifying unit 21c, the control unit 20 may specify the recommended lane E that the vehicle V should travel, and the recommended lane E can be recommended based on various viewpoints. For example, the control unit 20 may specify a lane in which the vehicle V can smoothly travel as the recommended lane E based on traffic conditions such as traffic jams and the presence of obstacles by the function of the recommended lane specifying unit 21c. Recommended lane guidance section 21d control unit 20 of the function of may be allowed to guide the position of the recommended lane E by image using the first number of lanes N ₁ or the second number of lanes N _2, both the image and sound May guide the position of the recommended lane E. For example, as shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B, an arrow indicating the lane count from the adjacent lane A or the reference lane S is displayed, or a number indicating the first lane number N ₁ or the second lane number N ₂ is displayed. It may be displayed. Further, by the function of the recommended lane guide unit 21d, the control unit 20 causes the first lane number N ₁ and the second lane number N ₂ to be the same, for example, when the certainty factor of the travel lane C is a predetermined value or less. Even in this case, the position of the recommended lane E may be guided using the second lane number N ₂ .

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Navigation apparatus, 20 ... Control part, 21 ... Lane guidance program, 21a ... Reference | standard lane identification part, 21b ... Traveling lane identification part, 21c ... Recommended lane identification part, 21d ... Recommended lane guidance part, 30 ... Recording medium, 30a ... Map information, 41 ... GPS receiver, 42 ... Vehicle speed sensor, 43 ... Gyro sensor, 44 ... In-vehicle camera, 45 ... User I / F part, A ... Adjacent lane, C ... Traveling lane, N ... Lane number, R ... Recommended lane, S ... reference lane, D ... distance, GP ... guide point, V ... vehicle.

JP 2007-178383 A

Claims (4)

A reference lane identifying means for identifying a reference lane present at the end of the vehicle in the direction of travel of the plurality of lanes included in the road;
A traveling lane identifying means for identifying a traveling lane in which the vehicle travels from the plurality of lanes;
Recommended lane identifying means for identifying a recommended lane that the vehicle should travel from among the plurality of lanes;
The first lane number that is the number of lanes counted from the adjacent lane adjacent to the recommended lane side with respect to the travel lane, and the number of lanes counted from the reference lane to the recommended lane Recommended lane guidance means for guiding the position of the recommended lane using the smaller of the number of second lanes,
A lane guide device comprising: The recommended lane guide means guides the position of the recommended lane using the first lane number when the first lane number and the second lane number are equal.
The lane guide apparatus according to claim 1. A reference lane identification step for identifying a reference lane present at an end on the side of the vehicle traveling direction among a plurality of lanes included in the road; and
A travel lane identifying step for identifying a travel lane in which the vehicle travels from the plurality of lanes;
A recommended lane identifying step for identifying a recommended lane that the vehicle should travel from among the plurality of lanes;
The first lane number that is the number of lanes counted from the adjacent lane adjacent to the recommended lane side with respect to the travel lane, and the number of lanes counted from the reference lane to the recommended lane A recommended lane guidance process for guiding the position of the recommended lane using the smaller of the number of second lanes,
Lane guide method including A reference lane identification function that identifies a reference lane that exists at the end of the vehicle in the direction of travel of the plurality of lanes included in the road;
A travel lane identifying function for identifying a travel lane in which the vehicle travels from the plurality of lanes;
A recommended lane identifying function for identifying a recommended lane that the vehicle should travel from among the plurality of lanes;
The first lane number that is the number of lanes counted from the adjacent lane adjacent to the recommended lane side with respect to the travel lane, and the number of lanes counted from the reference lane to the recommended lane A recommended lane guidance function for guiding the position of the recommended lane using a smaller one of the number of second lanes,
A lane guidance program that runs a computer.

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