JP3000601B2 - Travel guide device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial applications]

The present invention relates to a travel guide device that can provide a travel route required for traveling of an automobile or the like using voice.

[Prior art]

Conventionally, in a device for guiding a traveling route of an automobile or the like,
Various devices that can display a traveling route as an image have been proposed because the burden on the driver is lighter than searching for a destination or a target from an atlas and storing the route. However, when displaying a traveling route using an image, the driver has to look at the image, and there is a problem that it is difficult to give detailed instructions during traveling for safety reasons. To solve the above-mentioned problems, Japanese Utility Model Application Laid-Open No. 64-3959
As disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 7 “Route Guidance System”, there has been proposed a device that provides guidance on a traveling route using voice.

[Problems to be solved by the invention]

However, in the travel guidance device using the voice, the instruction is given only at a predetermined time, so that there is a problem that a driver cannot obtain necessary information when he / she wants to know. In addition, this traveling guide device has a problem that it is troublesome because the user must always listen to the same instruction. The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problem, and can determine and execute an explanation or a response applied to a user according to a situation based on an instruction from a user, as if a human navigator exists. It is an object of the present invention to provide a travel guidance device capable of giving a comfortable travel guidance instruction.

[Means for Solving the Problems]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problem, the present invention, as shown in the concept of FIG. 10, can appropriately utter a guidance sentence necessary for traveling guidance, and after the guidance sentence is uttered, the user gives the guidance A travel guide device having a function of uttering the same content as the guidance sentence when there is a response word to the sentence, comprising: a data storage unit A1; a response word input unit A2 for inputting a response word from a user; Utterance control means A3 for estimating a request intended by the user for each response word input to the word input means and appropriately generating an explanatory sentence or an answer sentence suitable for the guessed request based on the data stored in the data storage means And an utterance unit A4 for uttering an explanation sentence or an answer sentence generated by the utterance control unit. After the guidance sentence is uttered, a response word to the guidance sentence from a user is input by the response word input unit. A2 When it is determined that the request intended by the user to be guessed with respect to the input response word requires the utterance having a content different from the guidance sentence, the utterance control unit A3 ,
A description sentence or answer sentence different from the guide sentence suitable for the request intended by the user is generated, and the utterance means A4
Is characterized by uttering an explanatory sentence or an answer / answer sentence different from the generated guide sentence.

[Action]

After the guidance sentence necessary for the travel guidance is uttered, a response word to the guidance sentence is input from the user to the response word input means A2, and a user's intended request estimated for the input response word is provided as guidance. If it is determined that an utterance different from the sentence is required, the utterance is made as follows. That is, an utterance control unit A3 generates an explanatory sentence or an answer sentence different from the guide sentence suitable for the request intended by the user. Then, an explanation sentence or an answer sentence different in content from the generated guide sentence is uttered by the utterance means A4. As described above, since the explanatory text or the answer text having the content suitable for the request intended by the user is uttered, the traveling guidance based on the accurate instruction can be received instead of the formal and complicated instruction.

【Example】

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described based on specific examples. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the travel guide device according to the present embodiment. Reference numeral 10 denotes a current position determination unit, which is a GPS (Global Positioning
System) and the like to determine the current location of the traveling vehicle. Reference numeral 20 denotes a voice input device having a function of a response word input unit, and is a portion for inputting voice uttered by the driver using a microphone or the like. An operation unit 30 is used to input a destination or the like using a touch panel, a keyboard, or the like. Reference numeral 40 denotes a control device, which is a microcomputer including a CPU 51, a ROM 52, a RAM 53, an I / O 54, and the like, and having a function of an utterance control unit.
50 and an audio output controller 60 having the function of a speech means
It is provided with. Reference numeral 70 denotes a response word analysis knowledge storage device which has a function of data storage means and forms a response word analysis knowledge storage medium, and stores in advance rules for analyzing a response word input from a driver. It is a part to put. Reference numeral 80 denotes a map data storage device which has a function of data storage means and forms a map data storage medium, and is a portion for storing predetermined map data and the like in advance. Reference numeral 90 denotes a speaker, which is a part that outputs a sound for explaining a route. The map data stored in the map data storage device 80 is
As shown in FIG. 2, an intersection data sequence 81 including an intersection name, the presence or absence of a signal, the number and direction of a connected road, the number of an adjacent landmark, and the like, a road name, and an adjacent intersection number It is composed of a road data sequence 82 composed of distances and the like and a landmark data sequence 83 composed of landmark names and the like. By using these data, it is possible to obtain data necessary for explaining the directions such as the distance to the next turning intersection, the name of the intersection, and the name of the mark adjacent to the intersection. Further, the map data storage device 80 also stores data in which a traveling route for each driver is stored. That is, the driving data 84 shown in FIG. 3 (a) in which the numbers of the roads on which the driver has traveled are stored in order, the intersection numbers and the road numbers described in the present device are stored in order in FIG. The travel guidance data 85 shown in FIG. By using these data, it is possible to obtain history data such as which route the driver has traveled and which route the driver has explained. The data in the response word analysis knowledge storage device 70 is stored in the form of a rule having an IF-THEN type structure similar to a general expert system. The actual processing flow will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. First, in step 100, the driver inputs a destination using the operation unit 30. Next, the process proceeds to step 102 to execute a route determination process. The data in the map data storage device 80 is searched based on the data of the destination and the current location data from the current location determination unit 10, and the shortest route from the current location to the destination is calculated and obtained, which will be described below. Determine as a route. Next, in the processing loop of steps 104 to 114, data retrieval of the first turning intersection is executed until the vehicle arrives at the destination based on the movement of the current location accompanying the traveling of the car. First, in step 104, based on the output data from the current position judging section 10, the road and the current position on the route to be explained determined in step 102 are calculated. Next, the process proceeds to step 106, where a sentence describing a route is generated based on the flowchart of FIG. 5 as a processing program for generating a description. The main purpose of this program is to generate a description sentence "which intersection turns in which direction." First, at step 200, an intersection number search processing program is executed. In the process of searching for an intersection number, an intersection number #i of an intersection that turns first on the route described is obtained based on the detailed flowchart of FIG. In step 300, the entire route data is read. Next, a search is performed for the first intersection number and the road numbers before and after the intersection on the route described. That is, the process proceeds to step 302, where the intersection number on the route data of the first scheduled route on the route from the current location to the destination is #i. Next, the process proceeds to step 304, where the route data is set to the road number #j existing immediately before the #i intersection.
Next, the process proceeds to step 306, where the road number existing immediately after the route data #i intersection is #k. Then, a search for data corresponding to the intersection number #i is executed from the intersection data sequence 81 in the map data storage device 80. That is, at step 308, all the pointers of the intersection data sequence 81 are read, and the routine goes to step 310, where the pointer number # 1 is set to the initial value 0, and the routine goes to step 312 to read the intersection data of the # 1 pointer. And step 314
Then, it is determined whether or not the intersection number of the # 1 pointer is equal to #i. If the intersection number is not #i, the process proceeds to step 316, where the # 1 pointer is updated, and
Repeat step 316. When the intersection number of the # 1 pointer becomes equal to #i in step 314, the intersection angle of the roads before and after this intersection is calculated. That is, in step 318, the road direction of the road number #j is set to θ _j
And then, after the road direction of road number #k was theta _k in step 320, the process proceeds to step 322, the crossing angle of the two roads before and after the intersection is calculated. The angle difference between θ _j and θ _k , that is, | θ _j −θ _k | is calculated, and it is determined whether or not the value is equal to or greater than a predetermined fixed value. If the angle difference does not exceed the fixed value, the process proceeds to step 324, where the intersection number #
The intersection number #i scheduled to travel after i is set as the intersection number #i, and the process returns to the above-described step 304, and the processes of steps 304 to 324 are similarly repeated. If it is determined in step 322 that the angle difference is equal to or more than the predetermined value, the process proceeds to step 326, and the intersection with the intersection number #i is set as the first turning intersection. Then, returning to the flowchart of FIG. 5, in step 202, a processing program for turning direction search is executed. In the turning direction search process, the turning direction U at the intersection #i, which is the first turning intersection on the route described, is determined based on the detailed flowchart of FIG. First, a search is performed for the data corresponding to the intersection number #i, which is the first turning intersection, from the intersection data sequence 81 in the map data storage device 80. That is, at step 400, all the pointers of the intersection data sequence 81 are read, and the routine proceeds to step 402, where the intersection data of the # 1 pointer is read. Then, the flow shifts to step 404, where it is determined whether or not the intersection number of the # 1 pointer is equal to #i. If the intersection number is not #i, step 40
Go to step 6, update the # 1 pointer, steps 402-406
Is repeated. Next, at step 404, the intersection number of the #l pointer is #
If it is equal to i, the directions of the roads before and after the next turning intersection are calculated. That is, all the route data is read in step 408, the road number existing immediately before the #i intersection of the route data is set to #j in step 410, and the road number existing immediately after the #i intersection of the route data is set to #j in step 412. k. And
After the road direction of the road number #j is set to θ _{j in} step 414 and the road direction of the road number #k is set to θ _k in step 416,
The process proceeds to step 418, where the intersection angle between the two roads before and after this intersection is calculated. The angle difference between θ _j and θ _k , that is, | θ _j −θ _k | is calculated, and if the value is smaller than 180 °, the flow shifts to step 420 to set the bending direction U to the right. If the angle difference between θ _j and θ _k is equal to or greater than 180 °, the flow shifts to step 422, where the bending direction U is set to the left. Next, returning to the flowchart of FIG.
To read the intersection data of the #i intersection, and step 206
Then, it is determined whether or not the #i intersection has a name. If there is a name, the process proceeds to step 208, where the name of the #i intersection is set to N, and the process proceeds to step 210. Using the name N, a descriptive sentence “turn in the U direction at the N intersection” is generated. . If there is no name, proceed to step 212,
Assuming that the distance (m) from the current location to the #i intersection is N, the process proceeds to step 214, and generates an explanatory sentence “turn in the U direction at the intersection Nm ahead” using the distance N. Then, returning to the flowchart of FIG.
The descriptive sentence generated in step 8 is output as voice using the speaker 90 via the voice output controller 60. Next, the process proceeds to step 110, where it is determined whether or not a response word spoken by the driver has been input from the voice input device 20. If a response word has been input, the process proceeds to step 112, and a response word processing program is executed. As the response word processing, processing of each response word corresponding to the driver's response is performed based on the rules stored in the response word analysis knowledge storage device 70 according to the flowchart of FIG. First, in step 500, search and determination of which response word is the input speech is performed by using a speech recognition technique. Next, in step 502, processing corresponding to the determined response words is executed. As an example, a response word process corresponding to a typical response word “eh?” Will be described based on the detailed flowchart of FIG. In practice, this processing is stored in the response word analysis knowledge storage device 70 in the form of rules. In step 600, the noise level in the vehicle is measured based on the signal input from the voice input device 20. Next, proceeding to step 602, it is determined whether or not the measured noise level is equal to or higher than a certain value. If the noise level is equal to or higher than the predetermined value, it is determined that the driver has not heard the previous explanation, and the process proceeds to step 604 to generate the same explanation as the previous one and repeat the same explanation as the previous one. If the noise level is not equal to or higher than the predetermined value, the process proceeds to step 606, and it is determined whether the description using the mark can be performed. If the explanation using the landmarks has not been made yet in step 606, the process proceeds to step 608, in which the travel data 84 which is the user-stored map data in the map data storage device 80.
Is searched for the intersection number of the first turning intersection. Then, the process proceeds to step 610, where it is determined whether or not there is an intersection number of an intersection to be turned first. If there is an intersection number of the first turning intersection, the process proceeds to step 612, and a landmark near the first turning intersection is searched. Then, the flow shifts to step 614, where it is determined whether there is a mark at the intersection where the vehicle turns first. If there is a landmark at the first turning intersection, the process proceeds to step 616. After reading the name (N) of the landmark, the process proceeds to step 618 to generate a description using the name (N) of the landmark. It is an intersection with N. " If the description using the above-described landmarks cannot be made, a process of whether or not the description can be made based on the number of intersections is executed as follows. That is, if the description with the landmark has already been made in the above-mentioned step 606, or if there is no intersection number of the intersection where the first turn is made in step 610, or if there is no landmark of the first turn in the step 614, step 620 is executed. Then, it is determined whether description using the number of intersections can be performed. If the description based on the number of intersections has not been made yet, the process proceeds to step 622, where the number of intersections (N) up to the first turning intersection is calculated. Then, the flow shifts to step 624, where it is determined whether or not the number of intersections up to the first turning intersection is equal to or less than a predetermined fixed number. If the number of intersections up to the first turning intersection is equal to or less than a certain number, the process proceeds to step 626, where a description using the number of intersections (N) is generated, and the description is "Nth intersection." Then, when the description using the number of intersections described above cannot be performed, a process of whether or not the description based on the distance can be performed is executed as follows. That is, if the description based on the number of intersections has already been made in step 620 described above, or if the number of intersections exceeds a certain number in step 624, the process proceeds to step 628, and the description using the distance may be performed. It is determined whether or not it is possible.
If the explanation by the distance has not been made yet, the process proceeds to step 630, where the distance to the first turning intersection (N) is reached.
Is calculated. Then, the flow shifts to step 632, where an explanatory sentence using the distance (N) is generated, and the explanation is “Nm intersection ahead”. Then, in step 628, when the explanation based on the distance has already been performed or when the explanation based on the distance is also impossible, the process proceeds to step 634, and an explanation sentence indicating that the current explanation is to be terminated is generated. ,
I will explain later. ". Then, returning to the flowchart of FIG. 4, the above-described steps 108 to 112 are repeated, and if the response word is not input within a predetermined time set in step 110, for example,
The process proceeds to step 114, where it is determined whether the vehicle has arrived at the destination. If you have not arrived at the destination, follow the steps above
Repeat 104 to 114. Then, when the arrival at the destination is input in step 114, the present program is terminated. Although the current position determination unit 10 of the above-described embodiment is configured using GPS, it may be configured with an azimuth sensor, a distance sensor, map matching, and the like. Further, in the above-described embodiment, the shortest route is used in the process of determining the route in step 102 of the flowchart of FIG. 4. However, individual processes are performed using the travel data 84 for each driver in the map data storage device 80. A road where the driver has traveled may be selected as a route. In the above-described embodiment, the voice is used for inputting the response word. However, the input may be achieved using a push button of a keyboard provided in the travel guidance device or a gesture such as sign language.

【The invention's effect】

According to the present invention, it is possible to judge and execute an explanation or a response adapted to a user according to a situation based on an instruction from a user, and to perform a comfortable driving guidance instruction as if a human navigator is present. Therefore, it is possible to receive travel guidance based on accurate instructions instead of formal and complicated instructions.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a basic configuration of a travel guidance device according to a specific embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing map data in a map data storage device according to the embodiment. FIGS. 3 (a) and 3 (b) are explanatory diagrams showing driving data and driving guidance data for each driver in the map data storage device according to the embodiment. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure of a CPU used in the apparatus of the embodiment. FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a detailed process of generating the explanatory note in step 106 of FIG. FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing detailed processing of intersection number search in step 200 of FIG. FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a detailed process of a turning direction search in step 202 of FIG. FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a detailed process of a response word process in step 112 of FIG. FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing a detailed process corresponding to a specific response word “eh?” As each response word process in step 502 of FIG. FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing the concept of the present invention. 10 current position determination unit 20 voice input device (response word input means) 30 operation unit 40 control device 50 microcomputer (utterance control unit) 60 voice output controller (utterance unit) 70 …… Response word analysis knowledge storage device (data storage means) 80 …… Map data storage device (data storage means) 90 …… Speaker

Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-62-108111 (JP, A) JP-A-63-208092 (JP, A) JP-A-2-224100 (JP, A) JP-A-2-249100 (JP) JP-A-3-21817 (JP, A) JP-A-3-175478 (JP, A) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G08G 1/0969 G01C 21/00

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. A function for arbitrarily uttering a guidance sentence necessary for traveling guidance, and, after a utterance of the guidance sentence, a utterance of the same content as the guidance sentence when a user responds to the guidance sentence. A travel guidance device having data storage means, response word input means for inputting a response word from the user, and estimating a request intended by the user for each response word input to the response word input means, An utterance control unit that appropriately generates an explanatory sentence or an answer sentence suitable for the guessed request based on the data stored in the data storage unit; and an utterance unit that utters the explanatory sentence or the answer sentence generated by the utterance control unit. After the guidance sentence is uttered, a response word to the guidance sentence is input from the user to the response word input means, and the user's intention estimated for the input response word If it is determined that the request requires a utterance of a content different from the guidance text, the utterance control means sets the description text different from the guidance text suitable for the request intended by the user. A travel guidance device, wherein an answer sentence is generated, and the utterance means utters an explanatory sentence or an answer / answer sentence having a different content from the generated guide sentence. 2. The utterance control means further comprising, when a new response word for the uttered explanatory sentence or the answer sentence is input to the response word input means, a user's guess for the new response word. 2. The traveling system according to claim 1, wherein a new explanatory sentence or an answer / answer sentence suitable for an intended request is generated, and said utterance means utters the generated new explanatory sentence or an answer / answer sentence. Guide device.