JP3183571B2 - Route guidance device by voice of car - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a voice route of an automobile for providing guidance to a vehicle occupant about a specific point on the established travel path in order to guide the automobile along the established travel path. Related to guidance devices.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a car navigation system, which is one of the road driving assistance systems for a car, for example, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 61-209316, an image display device is provided with an image display device. A road map including the driving area is displayed, and various information such as a current position of the vehicle, a destination, and a planned route from the current position to the destination are displayed on the displayed road map. And the vehicle occupant can run the vehicle to the destination according to the display on the image display device. Further, as such an automobile navigation system, there is also known an automobile navigation system in which an occupant of an automobile is provided with voice guidance about a set traveling route in addition to information display by an image display device.

[0003] In a system conventionally proposed as a travel route guidance device for performing guidance along a set travel route for a vehicle by voice guidance, generally, voice guidance is performed at an intersection point specified in advance on a road map. The guidance sentence prepared for each of a plurality of voice guidance target points such as etc. is sequentially and uniformly output as voice, and is performed.
At this time, no consideration is given to whether or not the occupant of the car needs voice guidance. Therefore, such voice guidance for guidance of the traveling route requires the vehicle to travel on a traveling route unknown to the occupant or a traveling route that is not known but is not familiar to the occupant. It works very effectively when done in the original, for example, if the car is traveling on a known and well-known travel route to the occupant and the occupant does not need it. In this case, the occupant may be inconvenienced.

Therefore, in order to eliminate such a fear, for example,
As shown in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2-114117, it is possible to guide a vehicle to a destination by a road map displayed by an image display device and voice guidance from a voice output device. The content is uniform for a plurality of voice guidance target points, such as intersections, but in a section of the set traveling route to the destination where an occupant desires voice guidance. Some systems have been proposed to do so only. Under such a system, the occupant of the vehicle can make settings so that voice guidance is not provided in a traveling route section that does not require any voice guidance for traveling route guidance.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In the case of an automobile employing a system capable of selectively performing voice guidance for guiding a travel route according to a travel route section as described above. However, in the travel route section selected as the section where voice guidance should be performed, voice guidance relating to a specific point in the section is performed regardless of whether the occupant of the car is in a conversation state or not. become. Therefore, in such a case, a situation in which the occupant of the car suddenly receives the voice guidance during the conversation and thereby the conversation is undesirably interrupted may occur. In particular, the content of the voice guidance at that time may occur. If is not very important to the occupant, the occupant will experience discomfort.

[0006] In view of the above, the present invention provides voice guidance to an occupant of a vehicle at each specific point on the set travel route to guide the vehicle along the set travel route. It shall be performed at an appropriate timing set in consideration of the conversation state of the occupant to be received, thereby effectively suppressing a situation in which the conversation by the occupant is undesirably interrupted by voice guidance. It is an object of the present invention to provide a route guidance apparatus using a voice of an automobile.

[0007]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, a route guidance apparatus for a vehicle according to the present invention comprises:
A route setting unit that sets a travel route based on destination data and current position data of the vehicle and map data indicating a vehicle travel route network, and sends route data relating to the set travel route; map data and route setting Based on the route data from the section, create a guidance sentence about a predetermined point on the set traveling route specified by the route data,
A guidance message creation unit that sends guidance message data representing the created guidance message, a memory unit that stores guidance message data from the guidance message creation unit, and a voice guidance for a predetermined point based on the guidance message data from the memory unit. A guidance execution unit that executes the route guidance of the vehicle, a voice detection unit that detects a voice state of the occupant of the vehicle, and a content and voice detection of the guidance text data after the guidance text data is transmitted from the guidance text creation unit. Based on the detection output signal from the unit, a predetermined timing for giving priority to voice guidance over conversation by the occupant is set, and at the set timing, the guidance sentence data stored in the memory unit is supplied to the guidance execution unit. and a voice guidance permission unit for permitting the voice guidance according to plan in the execution unit to perform the operation of the voice guidance authorization unit, guidance words data from the guidance statement creation unit
Information created by the guidance sentence creation unit based on the contents of the data
Guidance sentence importance setting section that sets sentence importance, and utterance detection
Importance of conversation by occupants based on detection output signals from the head
Conversation importance setting part to set degree and guidance sentence importance setting part
To the importance of the guide text and the conversation importance set by
Compared to the more important importance of conversation by the crew,
Predetermined task to give priority to voice guidance over conversation by crew
A voice guidance timing setting section for setting
Or the utterance detection unit is
The audio signal from the microphone provided for
Received, and a threshold corresponding to the average level of the audio signal
Set the threshold level and set the threshold level
Depending on the portion of the audio signal that has a level that exceeds
A device that detects the utterance state,
Receives the audio signal from the microphone
In-vehicle audio device in which voice signal is mixed into the audio signal
Of the signal component corresponding to the reproduced sound based on the audio output signal from the
Detection of occupant's utterance state under the condition where the effect is removed
It is configured to be offered to .

[0008]

In the route guidance apparatus for a vehicle according to the present invention configured as described above, the guidance sentence creating unit sets the predetermined voice guidance on the traveling route set for the vehicle. point, namely, guide sentence proposal for the voice guidance for the occupants of the car in terms of voice guidance-target point
A state in which, when created by the internal sentence creation unit, the guidance sentence data representing the guidance sentence is temporarily stored in the memory unit, and then supplied from the memory unit to the guidance execution unit under the control of the voice guidance permission unit. Is selected, and when guidance text data is supplied from the memory unit to the guidance execution unit, the guidance execution unit performs voice guidance based on the guidance text. Then, the supply operation of the guidance sentence data stored in the memory unit under the control of the voice guidance permission unit to the guidance execution unit includes:
Created by the guide text creation unit based on the guide text data
And severity of the guide statement was based on the detection output signal from the utterance detection unit for detecting an occupant in voicing state of the vehicle, by the occupant
It is executed at a predetermined timing, which is set based on a comparison with the importance of the conversation and which should give priority to voice guidance over conversation by the occupant. As a result, in the voice guidance based on the guidance text created by the guidance text creation unit, the conversation by the occupant is undesirably interrupted under normal circumstances, except in exceptional situations such as when emergency guidance is given. It is done without causing a situation to happen.

[0009]

FIG. 1 shows an example of a route guidance apparatus for a vehicle according to the present invention. In this example, a current position detecting unit 11 for detecting a current position of a vehicle on which the vehicle is mounted is provided. The current position detection unit 11 includes a G signal from an artificial satellite in the Global Positioning System (GPS), which is a radio navigation system using an artificial satellite.
GPS signal receiving unit 12 for receiving a PS signal, geomagnetic sensor 13 serving as a direction sensor for detecting the direction of the vehicle, vehicle speed sensor 1 for detecting the traveling speed of the vehicle
4, a reference position data input unit 15 for inputting data on a reference position of the vehicle, and a map data storage memory unit 16 storing map data indicating a vehicle traveling road network in a traveling area of the vehicle. . And
The current position detecting unit 11 includes a map data DM and a GPS signal receiving unit 12 read from the map data storage memory unit 16.
Signal SG received from the vehicle, detection output Dx from the geomagnetic sensor 13, detection output D from the vehicle speed sensor 14
s and the reference position data Di from the reference position data input unit 15 to display the current position of the vehicle in the map data D.
M is detected as a position on the automobile road network represented by M, and current position data DP representing the detected current position is transmitted.

The current position data DP sent from the current position detecting unit 11 is supplied to a route setting unit 17. The route setting unit 17 includes the map data DM read from the map data storage memory unit 16 and a destination data input unit 18
, Destination data Dd representing a destination to be reached by the vehicle. The route setting unit 17 calculates the current position data DP when the destination data Dd is supplied.
The position represented by the map data DM is defined as the guidance traveling start point on the vehicle travel network, and the position represented by the map data DM corresponding to the destination represented by the destination data Dd is represented by the destination point on the vehicle travel network. Then, an optimal traveling route from the guidance traveling start point to the destination on the automobile traveling road network represented by the map data DM is set. That is, as shown in FIG. 2, for example, as shown in FIG. 2, the route setting unit 17 guides the vehicle on the vehicle traveling road network represented by the map data DM, which is the point represented by the current position data DP when the destination data Dd is supplied. Start point P
S and a destination point PF corresponding to the destination represented by the destination data Dd are set. Further, as indicated by a broken line in FIG. 2, an optimal traveling route AC from the guidance traveling start point PS to the destination point PF is determined. Is set. The traveling route AC shown in FIG.
From the intersections X1, X2, X3, X4 and X5,
It is assumed that the vehicle reaches the destination point PF.

The route setting unit 17 includes a set traveling route,
For example, it sends route data DC relating to the traveling route AC to the guidance sentence creating unit 19 that creates a guidance sentence for voice guidance on the set traveling route. The guidance sentence creating unit 19 includes, in addition to the route data DC from the route setting unit 17, the current position data DP sent from the current position detecting unit 11 and the map data DM read from the map data storage memory unit 16. Supplied. Then, the guidance sentence creation unit 19
As guidance text for voice guidance on the set travel route represented by the route data DC from the route setting unit 17, a specific point on the set travel route, for example, each intersection is set as a voice guidance target point. A guidance sentence for voice guidance relating to each intersection in the traveled route is created as having the content based on the map data DM for the intersection specified based on the route data DC and the current position data DP. Therefore, when the traveling route AC shown in FIG. 2 is represented as the traveling route in which the route data DC from the route setting unit 17 is set, the guidance sentence creating unit 19 causes the intersections X1, X2, X3 in the traveling route AC to be displayed. , X
The guidance text for voice guidance relating to X4 and X5 is created as having a content based on the map data DM.

When creating a guide text, the guide text creating unit 19 provides guide text data DS representing the created guide text.
At an appropriate timing set on the basis of the route data DC and the current position data DP, to the guidance sentence data memory unit 20, and the guidance sentence creation notification signal C
S is sent to the memory control unit 21. Memory control unit 21
When receiving the guidance text creation notification signal CS from the guidance text creation unit 19, the guidance text data storage unit 20 supplies a write signal Pw to the guidance text data memory unit 20 accordingly. Guidance sentence data DS from sentence creation unit 19
Are written and stored according to the write signal Pw.

The current position data DP sent from the current position detection unit 11, the map data DM read from the map data storage memory unit 16, and the route data DC from the route setting unit 17 are important for the guidance sentence. It is also supplied to the degree setting unit 22, and in addition, the guidance sentence importance level setting unit 22 includes:
The guidance sentence data DS from the guidance sentence creating unit 19 is also supplied. The guide sentence importance setting unit 22 sets the importance (guide sentence importance) of the guide sentence represented by the guide sentence data DS in a predetermined short cycle based on the current position data DP, the map data DM, and the route data DC. And the guide sentence importance data D indicating the set guide sentence importance.
I is supplied to the importance data memory unit 23, and an importance setting notification signal CI is sent to the memory control unit 24.
Each time the memory control unit 24 receives the importance creation notification signal CI from the guide sentence importance setting unit 22, the memory control unit 24 supplies the write signal Qw to the importance data memory unit 23 in response thereto. In the data memory unit 23, the guide sentence importance data DI from the guide sentence importance setting unit 22 is written according to the write signal Qw, and the guide sentence importance data DI
Is updated and stored in a short cycle.

The setting of the guide sentence importance by the guide sentence importance setting section 22 is performed, for example, as follows. First,
When the guidance sentence data DS is transmitted from the guidance sentence creating unit 19, it is determined whether or not the guidance sentence represented by the guidance sentence data DS conveys emergency information. Guide text importance is the maximum value of 1.0
Is set to

[0015] When the guidance text represented by the guidance text data DS does not convey emergency information, a point to be subjected to voice guidance based on the guidance text represented by the guidance text data DS, ie, a voice guidance target. A point is specified, and even if the vehicle occupant receives voice guidance at the point a predetermined distance from the voice guidance target point, the vehicle can run at the voice guidance target point according to the voice guidance. It is set as the limit point which becomes the limit. Then, when the guidance sentence data DS is transmitted from the guidance sentence creating unit 19, the guidance sentence importance II is set to 0.
(Zero), and thereafter, as the position of the vehicle approaches the limit point, the guide message importance level II is monotonically increased. When the vehicle position reaches the limit point, the guide message importance level II is increased to the maximum value. 1.0 is assumed. At this time, the increase rate of the guide text importance II is calculated based on the distance from the position of the vehicle to the limit point and the vehicle speed when the guide text importance II is set to 0. After the position of the car has passed the limit point, the importance II of the guidance text is 0.
Is returned to.

For example, when a traveling route is set as shown by a broken line in FIG.
When the guidance sentence data DS having the point Za (crossing point) as a voice guidance target point is transmitted from the guidance sentence creating unit 19 when the vehicle reaches the point Z, the point Zb before the point Za is set as the limit point, As shown in the graph of FIG. 4 (horizontal axis: mileage LV of the vehicle, vertical axis: importance of guidance text II), importance of the guidance text when the vehicle reaches the point Zc where the mileage LV becomes LVc. II is set to 0. afterwards,
The guidance sentence importance II linearly increases from 0 to 1.0 until the vehicle reaches the point Zb where the mileage LV becomes LVb. The importance II is set to 1.0. Subsequently, when the vehicle passes the point Zb, the guide sentence importance II is set to 0. Then, the car sets the point Za, which is the voice guidance target point where the mileage LV is LVa, to the guidance sentence importance II.
Guide text data DS to be executed until is set to 1.0
Pass according to the voice guidance based on the guidance sentence represented by.

Also, in the example shown in FIG. 1, in order to detect the utterance state of the occupant of the automobile, for example, inside the left and right front pillars located diagonally forward on both sides of the front seat in the automobile, and Microphones 25A, 25B, 25C and 25D are respectively provided inside left and right quarter pillars located diagonally rearward on both sides of the rear seat. Of these microphones 25A to 25D, the microphone 25A corresponds to the driver of the automobile. And the microphone 25A ~
Sound signals SV1, SV2, SV3, and SV4 that change according to the sound of the occupant of the vehicle obtained from 25D.
Are the utterance detection units 26A, 26B, 26C and 26, respectively.
D. Each of the utterance detection units 26A to 26D is also supplied with an audio output signal SU obtained from an output unit of an in-vehicle audio device 27 provided in an automobile.

In the utterance detecting section 26A, the influence of the signal component corresponding to the reproduced sound based on the sound output signal SU from the vehicle-mounted audio device 27 mixed with the sound signal SV1 from the microphone 25A, The audio output signal S obtained from the output unit at
Under the elimination based on U, the presence or absence of utterance by the driver of the automobile is detected, and the utterance detection output signal SQ1 obtained thereby is supplied to the conversation importance setting unit 28. The utterance detection output signal SQ1 is, for example, at a high level during a period in which the driver makes a utterance, and at a low level during a period in which the driver does not make an utterance. Also, the utterance detection units 26B-
26D, the corresponding microphone 25
Based on each of the audio signals SV2 to SV4 from B to 25D, the influence of a signal component corresponding to the reproduced sound based on the audio output signal SU from the in-vehicle audio device 27 mixed in the audio signal SV2 to SV4 is output to the output unit in the in-vehicle audio device 27. Is detected based on the voice output signal SU obtained from the vehicle, the presence or absence of utterance by an occupant other than the driver of the car is detected, and each of the utterance detection output signals SQ2 to SQ4 obtained thereby is important for conversation. It is supplied to the degree setting unit 28. Each of the utterance detection output signals SQ <b> 2 to SQ <b> 4 is, for example, at a high level during a period in which the occupant utters, and at a low level during a period during which no occupant utters.

The conversation importance setting section 28 includes an utterance detection section 26
Based on each of the utterance detection output signals SQ1 to SQ4 from A to 26D, the importance of conversation by the occupant (conversation importance)
Is set, and conversation importance data DJ indicating the set conversation importance is supplied to the voice guidance timing setting unit 29. The setting of the conversation importance by the conversation importance setting unit 28 is as follows.
For example, it is performed as follows. First, the utterance detection unit 2
6A, it is detected whether or not the utterance detection output signal SQ1 is at a high level. When the utterance detection output signal SQ1 is at a high level, it is determined that the driver is uttering and the conversation importance level IJ is set to the maximum value. A situation in which the utterance detection output signal SQ1 is set to a certain 1.0, and a period in which the utterance detection output signal SQ1 takes a low level of less than 1 second for a predetermined period of time, for example, at intervals of 30 seconds or less. When the high level is intermittently taken under the condition, the voice recognition of the driver is recognized as continuing, and the conversation importance level IJ is maintained at 1.0. When the utterance detection output signal SQ1 has a low level for more than one second, it is recognized that the utterance of the driver has been interrupted, and the conversation importance level IJ is reduced from 1.0 to a predetermined reduction rate, for example, from 1.0. , 0.1 / sec.

When the utterance detection output signal SQ1 continuously takes a high level without generating a low level of less than 1 second at intervals of 30 seconds or less,
The driver's utterance does not continue, but the utterance detector 2
Recognizing that an abnormal output is obtained from 6A, the conversation importance level IJ is set to 0.

Next, when the utterance detection output signal SQ1 from the utterance detection unit 26A is at a low level, or when the above-described abnormal output is obtained from the utterance detection unit 26A, the utterance detection units 26B to 26C It detects whether any of the utterance detection output signals SQ2 to SQ4 is at a high level, and when any of the utterance detection output signals SQ2 to SQ4 is at a high level, an occupant other than the driver utters. Is performed, the conversation importance level IJ is set to 0.9, and one of the utterance detection output signals SQ2 to SQ4 is set for a predetermined period, for example, at a predetermined interval of 30 seconds or less. When a high level is taken intermittently in a situation where a low level is taken for a short time, for example, less than 1 second, it is recognized that the occupant's voice is continuing and the conversation importance IJ is set to 0. 9 To maintain. When one of the utterance detection output signals SQ2 to SQ4, which has been intermittently at a high level, has a low level for more than one second, it is recognized that the occupant's utterance has been interrupted, and the conversation is started. The importance IJ is reduced at a reduction rate of 0.9 to 0.1 / sec.

The utterance detection output signal SQ2 at a high level
When one of the SQ4s continuously takes a high level without an interval of a low level of less than 1 second with an interval taken within 30 seconds, the occupant's vocalization is not continued. Recognizes that an abnormal output is obtained from one of the utterance detection units 26B to 26D,
Set J to 0.

Thus, the conversation importance setting by the conversation importance setting unit 28 is performed when the driver is speaking, placing more importance on the conversation importance than when an occupant other than the driver is speaking. While the degree IJ is set to the maximum value of 1.0, and when the driver's utterance stops, the conversation importance is gradually reduced from 1.0 at a reduction rate of, for example, 0.1 / sec. When the driver is not speaking and the occupants other than the driver are speaking, the conversation importance IJ is set to 0.9, and when the utterance of the passenger is stopped, the conversation importance IJ is set to 0. From 0.9, for example, the reduction is performed gradually with a reduction rate of 0.1 / sec. Therefore, when the utterance of the occupant including the driver is interrupted for a period exceeding 10 seconds, the conversation importance level IJ is set to zero.

When the conversation importance setting section 28 recognizes that an abnormal output is obtained from any of the utterance detecting sections 26A to 26D, the conversation importance setting section 28 has the utterance detecting sections 26A to 26A to which the abnormal output is obtained. A control signal CL is transmitted to any one of the utterance detectors 26D, and one of the utterance detectors 26A to 26D is shifted from a state where an abnormal output is obtained to a normal state.

The voice guidance timing setting unit 29 to which the conversation importance data DJ is supplied from the conversation importance setting unit 28
At a predetermined timing, the memory read command signal C
R is supplied to the memory control unit 24. Memory control unit 24
Is a memory read command signal C from the conversation importance level setting unit 28.
Upon receiving R, a read signal Qr is supplied to the importance data memory unit 23 in response thereto, whereby one of the guide sentence weight data DI updated and stored therein is read from the importance data memory unit 23. Then, it is supplied to the voice guidance timing setting unit 29. The voice guidance timing setting unit 29 provides a guidance sentence importance I represented by the guidance sentence weight data DI read from the importance data memory unit 23.
I is compared with the conversation importance IJ represented by the conversation importance data DJ supplied from the conversation importance setting unit 28. As a result of the comparison, if the guide sentence importance II is equal to or greater than the conversation importance IJ, , Guide text importance data D used for comparison
A voice guidance permission signal CT designating the guidance text data DS corresponding to I is sent to the memory control unit 21. If the guidance text importance II is smaller than the conversation importance IJ, the voice guidance permission signal CT Is not sent.

The voice guidance timing setting section 29
When the voice guidance permission signal CT specifying the guidance text data DS corresponding to the guidance text weight data DI used for comparison is sent to the memory control unit 21, the guidance text weight data used for comparison is Guidance sentence data DS corresponding to DI
Is transmitted to the memory control unit 24.
To supply. When the memory control unit 24 receives the data erasure command signal CE from the voice guidance timing setting unit 29,
Accordingly, write signal Qw is changed to data erase command signal Cw.
E is supplied to the importance data memory unit 23 as an erasure signal for the guide text data DS specified by E, whereby the erasure of the guide text data DS specified by the data erasure command signal CE in the importance data memory unit 23 is performed. Done.

Subsequently, a voice guidance timing setting section 29
Transmits the memory read command signal CR to the memory control unit 24 again.
To supply. When the memory control unit 24 receives the memory read command signal CR from the voice guidance timing setting unit 29,
In response, read signal Qr is transferred to importance data memory unit 2
3 from the importance data memory unit 23, thereby updating the guidance sentence weight data DI
Is read out and supplied to the voice guidance timing setting unit 29. The voice guidance timing setting unit 29 includes a guidance sentence importance II represented by the guidance sentence weight data DI newly read from the importance data memory unit 23, and conversation importance data DJ supplied from the conversation importance setting unit 28. Is compared with the conversation importance level IJ represented in the same manner as described above, and in the same manner as described above, guidance sentence data D corresponding to the guidance sentence weight data DI used for comparison.
Memory control unit 21 of voice guidance permission signal CT specifying S
And a data erasure command signal CE specifying the guide text data DS corresponding to the guide text weight data DI used for the comparison is supplied to the memory control unit 24, and the above operation is repeated. Under such circumstances, the guide sentence importance setting unit 2
2. The portion including the importance data memory unit 23, the memory control unit 24, the conversation importance setting unit 28, and the voice guidance timing setting unit 29 performs voice guidance based on the guidance text created by the guidance text creation unit 19. Thus, the voice guidance permission unit is configured to be permitted at the transmission timing of the voice guidance permission signal CT from the voice guidance timing setting unit 29.

As described above, the voice guidance permission signal from the voice guidance timing setting unit 29 specifying the guidance text data DS corresponding to the guidance text weight data DI used for comparison in the voice guidance timing setting unit 29. Each time the memory control unit 21 receiving the CT receives the voice guidance permission signal CT, the memory control unit 21 supplies the guidance text data memory unit 20 with a read signal Pr for the guidance text data DS specified by the voice guidance permission signal CT. As a result, the guidance message data DS stored in the guidance message data
Among them, the one designated by the voice guidance permission signal CT is read and supplied to the voice signal synthesizing unit 30.

The voice signal synthesizing unit 30 supplied with the guide sentence data DS from the guide sentence data memory unit 20 synthesizes an analog voice signal SA corresponding to the guide sentence represented by the guide sentence data DS. Then, the analog audio signal SA synthesized by the audio signal synthesizing unit 30 is supplied to the speaker 31 constituting the sound emitting unit. Voice guidance is provided based on the created guidance text. Then, the vehicle is guided along the set traveling route by the voice guidance from the speaker 31 through the driving operation of the occupant receiving the vehicle. Under such circumstances, the audio signal synthesizing unit 30 and the speaker 31 constitute a guidance executing unit.

Each of the utterance detection units 26A to 26D in the example shown in FIG. 1 described above has the same configuration and performs the same operation. Therefore, the utterance detection units 26A-
The utterance detection unit 26A is taken as a representative of the utterance detection unit 26A, and a specific configuration example of the utterance detection unit 26A will be described with reference to FIG. Therefore, the description is omitted.

In the specific configuration example of the utterance detection unit 26A shown in FIG. 5, the microphone 25A is connected to the input terminal 41.
From the input terminal 42.
The audio output signal SU from the output unit of the in-vehicle audio device 27 is supplied to the audio output device SU. The audio signal S supplied to the input terminal 41
V1 is amplified by the amplifying unit 43 and then supplied to a band-pass filter (BPF) 44. The BPF 44 has a pass frequency band of, for example, 1 to 4 kHz corresponding to the frequency band of the main component of the audio signal SV1, and the BPF 44 sets the frequency in the audio signal SV1 to 1
An audio signal component SV1 'of about 4 kHz is obtained. The audio signal component SV1 'is supplied to a comparison terminal of the level comparison section 45 and is also supplied to an average level detection section 46. From the average level detector 46, the audio signal component S
The average level VV1 for V1 'is obtained and supplied to one of the inputs of the threshold level setting unit 47.

The audio output signal SU supplied to the input terminal 42 is supplied to a BPF 48. BPF48,
Similarly to the BPF 44, it has a pass frequency band of, for example, 1 to 4 kHz, and the BPF 48 obtains an audio output signal component SU ′ whose frequency in the audio output signal SU is 1 to 4 kHz. Then, the audio output signal component SU ′ from the BPF 48 is supplied to the average level detection unit 49, and the audio output signal component S ′ is output from the average level detection unit 49.
An average level VU for U 'is obtained. The average level VU from the average level detection unit 49 is adjusted by the level adjustment unit 50 in consideration of the balance with the average level VV1 from the average level detection unit 46.
It is supplied to the other input terminal of the threshold level setting section 47.

In the threshold level setting section 47, an appropriate threshold level Vs1 for the audio signal component SV1 'from the BPF 44 is set based on the average level VV1 and the average level VU. This threshold level Vs1 is equal to the audio signal component SV.
The portion having a level exceeding the threshold level Vs1 in 1 'does not include a signal component corresponding to a reproduced sound based on the audio output signal SU from the vehicle-mounted audio device 27. Then, the threshold level Vs1 set by the threshold level setting unit 47 is supplied to the reference terminal of the level comparison unit 45.

In the level comparing section 45, the BPF 44
Is compared with the threshold level Vs1.
When the level of the audio signal component SV1 'from the PF 44 exceeds the threshold level Vs1, it takes a high level,
When the level of the audio signal component SV1 'from the BPF 44 is equal to or lower than the threshold level Vs1, a comparison output signal SS1 having a low level is obtained. The comparison output signal SS1 obtained from the level comparison section 45 is output to the output terminal 5
1 to be the utterance detection output signal SQ1.

Guide text importance setting section 2 in the example of FIG.
2. The conversation importance setting unit 28 and the voice guidance timing setting unit 29 are each configured using, for example, a microcomputer, and these microcomputers are used to set the guidance sentence importance, the conversation importance, and the voice. An example of a program executed in setting the guidance permission timing will be described with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS. 6, 7, and 8.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing an example of a program executed by the microcomputer constituting the guide sentence importance setting section 22 when setting the guide sentence importance.
In this program, after starting, step 61
In step, initialization is performed to set the variable n to 0, and in a succeeding step 62, it is determined whether or not the guidance text data DS from the guidance text creation unit 19 has arrived. As a result, if the guide text data DS has not arrived, the determination in step 62 is repeated. If the guide text data DS has arrived, the variable n is increased by 1 in step 63, and then the process proceeds to step 64. , It is determined whether or not the content of the guidance text represented by the guidance text data DS is an emergency guidance for transmitting emergency information.

If the result of the determination in step 64 is that the content of the guide text represented by the guide text data DS is an emergency guide, in step 65, the guide text importance IIn (the n-th guide text importance II) is set to 1 .0, and step 6
Return to 2. Also, as a result of the determination in step 64, if the content of the guidance text represented by the guidance text data DS is not an emergency guidance, in step 66, the importance of the guidance text IIn is set to 0. An increase rate for the importance level IIn is calculated. Then, in the next step 68, the guide sentence importance IIn set to 0 in step 66 is increased with the increase rate calculated in step 67, and the guide sentence importance II being increased.
n is stored in the importance data memory unit 23 with a predetermined short cycle.
, And the operation returns to step 62. The operation of starting the guide sentence importance IIn at the step 68 and increasing the guide sentence importance IIn in the importance data memory unit 23 by increasing the guide sentence importance IIn with the increase rate calculated in the step 67 is the guidance When the sentence importance IIn reaches 1.0, the processing automatically ends.

The flowchart of FIG. 7 shows an example of a program executed by the microcomputer constituting the conversation importance setting section 28 when setting the conversation importance. In this program, after the start, in step 71, the utterance detection output signal SQ1 from the utterance detection unit 26A
Is at a high level. As a result, when the utterance detection output signal SQ1 is at the high level, it is determined in a step 72 whether or not the conversation importance level IJ is 1.0. If the conversation importance IJ is not 1.0, the conversation importance IJ is set to 1.0 in step 73,
In the following step 74, the operation of the timer is started, and the routine proceeds to step 75, where the conversation importance IJ is 1.
If it is 0, then directly from step 72 to step 7
Go to 5. In step 75, it is determined whether or not the time Tt measured by the timer has exceeded 30 seconds. If the time Tt has not exceeded 30 seconds, the process returns to step 71.

As a result of the determination in step 75, the measurement time T
If t exceeds 30 seconds, the conversation importance level IJ is set to 0 in step 76, and then the operation of the timer is stopped in step 77, and in step 78, the control signal CL is sent to the utterance detection unit 26A. After that, the process returns to step 71.

If the result of determination in step 71 is that the utterance detection output signal SQ1 is at a low level, in step 79 any one of the utterance detection output signals SQ2 to SQ4 from the utterance detection units 26B to 26D is used. It is determined whether or not is at a high level. As a result, if any one of the utterance detection output signals SQ2 to SQ4 is at a high level, the conversation importance level IJ is set to 0.9 in step 80.
It is determined whether or not the conversation importance IJ is not 0.9.
9 is set, and the process proceeds to step 74. If the conversation importance level IJ is 0.9, the process directly proceeds from step 80 to step 75.

If it is determined in step 79 that all of the utterance detection output signals SQ2 to SQ4 are at a low level, in step 82, the conversation importance level IJ is determined.
Is determined to be 0 or not. As a result, conversation importance I
If J is 0, the process returns to step 71. If the conversation importance IJ is not 0, in step 83, the conversation importance IJ is reduced at a reduction rate of, for example, 0.1 / sec. . Subsequently, in step 84, it is determined whether or not the timer is operating. If the timer is operating, the operation of the timer is stopped in step 85, and the process returns to step 71.
If the timer is not running, step 84 returns directly to step 71.

The flowchart of FIG. 8 shows an example of a program executed by the microcomputer constituting the voice guidance timing setting section 29 when setting the voice guidance permission timing. In this program, after the start, in a step 91, an initial setting for setting a variable n to 1 and a count value Cc of a counter to 0 is performed, and in a subsequent step 92, a memory read in which the guide sentence importance IIn is designated. A command signal CR is sent to the memory control unit 24, and the guide sentence importance data DI indicating the guide sentence importance IIn read from the importance data memory unit 23.
The operation of taking in is performed. Then, in step 93,
The guidance data importance level IIn is actually stored in the importance level data memory unit 23.
Is stored, and the guide sentence importance data DI is stored.
It is determined whether or not it has been read and captured.

As a result of the judgment in step 93, when the guide sentence importance data DI representing the guide sentence importance IIn is taken in, in step 94, step 9 is executed.
It is determined whether or not the guide sentence importance IIn represented by the guide sentence importance data DI captured in step 3 is greater than the conversation importance IJ represented by the conversation importance data DJ supplied from the conversation importance setting unit 28. I do. As a result, when the guide sentence importance IIn is greater than the conversation importance IJ, in step 95, the voice control permission signal CT specifying the guide text data DS corresponding to the guide sentence importance IIn is transmitted to the memory control unit. 21. In a subsequent step 96, a data erasure command signal CE specifying the guide sentence importance IIn is sent to the memory control unit 24, and the process proceeds to step 97. Also, as a result of the determination in step 94, the guide sentence importance IIn
If is less than or equal to the conversation importance IJ, the process proceeds directly from step 94 to step 97. In step 97, the variable n is increased by one. In step 98, the count value Cc of the counter is increased by one, and the process returns to step 92.

On the other hand, as a result of the determination at step 93, the guide sentence importance data DI indicating the guide sentence importance IIn is not actually stored in the importance data memory unit 23. If the guide sentence importance data DI is not captured, step 9
At 9, it is determined whether or not the variable n has reached its maximum value. As a result, if the variable n is not the maximum value so far, the process proceeds to step 97, and the variable n
If is the maximum value up to that point, step 1
At 00, the variable n is then changed to the count Cc of the counter.
To the reduced value. Subsequently, in step 101,
It is determined whether the counter value Cc of the counter is 0 or not.
After returning the count value Cc of the counter to 0, the process returns to step 92. If the count value Cc of the counter is 0, the process directly returns from step 101 to step 92.

[0045]

As is apparent from the above description, in the route guidance apparatus for a vehicle according to the present invention, the voice guidance to the vehicle occupant at a predetermined point on the traveling route set for the vehicle is provided. When a guidance sentence for voice guidance is created by the guidance sentence creation unit, guidance sentence data representing the guidance sentence is temporarily stored in the memory unit, and thereafter, is controlled by the voice guidance permission unit. When the guidance sentence data is supplied from the memory unit to the guidance execution unit, voice guidance based on the guidance sentence is performed by the guidance execution unit. The operation of supplying the guidance text data stored in the memory unit to the guidance execution unit under the control of the voice guidance permission unit is based on the guidance text data.
Based on a comparison between the importance of the guide text created by the creation unit and the importance of conversation by the occupant based on a detection output signal from the utterance detection unit that detects the utterance state of the occupant of the vehicle. It is executed at a predetermined timing at which voice guidance should be given priority over conversation by the occupant. Therefore, according to the route guidance device using the voice of the vehicle according to the present invention, the voice guidance based on the guidance text created by the guidance text creation unit is performed in a normal manner except for exceptional situations such as when emergency guidance is performed. Originally, the conversation by the crew could be undesirably interrupted,
As a result, it is possible to avoid a situation in which the occupant feels uncomfortable with the voice guidance.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of a route guidance apparatus using a voice of an automobile according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a conceptual diagram showing a traveling route of an automobile used for explaining the operation of the example shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a conceptual diagram showing a traveling route of an automobile used for explaining an operation of a guide sentence importance setting unit in the example shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a graph used for explaining the operation of a guide sentence importance setting unit in the example shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a specific configuration example of an utterance detection unit in the example shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing an example of a program executed by the microcomputer constituting the guidance sentence importance setting unit in the example shown in FIG. 1 when setting the guidance sentence importance.

7 is a flowchart showing an example of a program executed by a microcomputer constituting the conversation importance setting unit in the example shown in FIG. 1 when setting the conversation importance.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing an example of a program executed by the microcomputer constituting the voice guidance timing setting unit in the example shown in FIG. 1 to set the voice guidance permission timing.

[Description of Signs] 11 Current position detection unit 16 Map data storage memory unit 17 Route setting unit 18 Destination data input unit 19 Guidance sentence creation unit 20 Guidance sentence data memory unit 21, 24 Memory control unit 22 Guidance sentence importance setting unit 23 Importance data memory unit 25A, 25B, 25C, 25D Microphone 26A, 26B, 26C, 26D Voice detection unit 27 In-vehicle audio device 28 Conversation importance setting unit 29 Voice guidance timing setting unit 30 Voice signal synthesis unit 31 Speaker

Claims (7)

(57) [Claims] A route setting unit for setting a travel route based on destination data and current position data of a vehicle and map data indicating a vehicle travel route network, and transmitting route data relating to the set travel route; Guidance text data representing a guide point about a predetermined point on the set traveling route specified by the route data based on the map data and the route data from the route setting unit, and representing the created guidance text A guidance sentence creating unit for sending the guidance sentence data; a memory unit for storing guidance sentence data from the guidance sentence creation unit; and a voice guidance for the predetermined point based on the guidance sentence data from the memory unit. A guidance execution unit for performing guidance, an utterance detection unit for detecting an utterance state of an occupant of the vehicle, and a guidance sentence data transmitted from the guidance sentence creation unit. Based on the content of the sentence data and the detection output signal from the utterance detection unit, a predetermined timing at which voice guidance should be given priority over the conversation by the occupant is stored in the memory unit at the set timing. and a voice guidance permission unit for permitting the voice guidance guidance text data by the guide execution unit to perform the operation of supplying to the executing processor that is, the voice guidance authorization unit, from the guide sentence creation unit Guide text
Based on the contents of the data,
A guide sentence importance setting unit for setting the importance of the received guide sentence,
Based on the detection output signal from the utterance detection unit,
Conversation importance setting section for setting the importance of conversation
The importance and upper level of the guidance sentence set by the internal sentence importance setting section
The conversation by the occupants set by the conversation importance setting section
Voice guidance based on the conversation between the occupants and the importance level
Guidance that sets a predetermined timing for giving priority to
And a timing setting unit . 2. A predetermined point where a voice guidance based on the guidance text created by the guidance text creation unit is provided by the guidance text importance setting unit.
Importance of guidance text according to changes in the position of the car relative to
The route guidance apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the following is set . 3. A predetermined point where a guidance sentence importance setting unit performs voice guidance based on the guidance sentence created by the guidance sentence creation unit.
The position of the car with respect to a point just a predetermined distance from
3. The route guidance device according to claim 2, wherein the importance of the guide text increases as the vehicle approaches. 4. A conversation importance setting section, comprising:
Continuation of conversation by the occupant detected based on the output signal
Navigation system by a car audio according to claim 1, wherein setting the importance of the conversation by the passenger in accordance with the state. 5. A conversation importance setting section detects conversation of a driver of an automobile based on a detection output signal from an utterance detection section.
When the the other than when the occupant of the conversation is detected, the route guidance device according to car audio according to claim 1, characterized in that the large the importance of conversation by the occupant. 6. Destination data and current position of an automobile
Location data and map data indicating the road network
To set the travel route, and the route related to the set travel route
A route setting unit for transmitting data, the map data and the route data from the route setting unit.
Based on the setting specified by the route data.
Create a guidance message about a predetermined point on the
Guidance for sending guidance text data representing the generated guidance text
A sentence creating unit, and a memory unit for storing guidance sentence data from the guidance sentence creating unit
And the predetermined point based on the guidance text data from the memory unit.
Perform voice guidance related to the route guidance of the car
A guidance execution unit, an utterance detection unit that detects an utterance state of an occupant of the vehicle, and a guidance sentence data transmitted from the guidance sentence creation unit.
Guidance sentence data content and detection output signal from the utterance detection unit
Voice guidance over the conversation by the crew based on the
Set a predetermined timing to be forwarded, and
At the timing, the memory
Perform the operation of supplying the guidance sentence data to the guidance execution unit.
Voice guidance permission to permit voice guidance by the guidance execution unit
And a microphone, wherein the utterance detection unit is provided for the occupant.
Receives the audio signal from the crophone and averages the audio signal.
Set the threshold level corresponding to the bell, 該Su
The audio having a level exceeding the threshold level
It is possible to detect the occupant's vocal status according to the signal part.
A route guidance device by voice of a car characterized by the following. 7. Destination data and current position of an automobile
Location data and map data indicating the road network
To set the travel route, and the route related to the set travel route
A route setting unit for transmitting data, the map data and the route data from the route setting unit.
Based on the setting specified by the route data.
Create a guidance message about a predetermined point on the
Guidance for sending guidance text data representing the generated guidance text
A sentence creating unit, and a memory unit for storing guidance sentence data from the guidance sentence creating unit
And the predetermined point based on the guidance text data from the memory unit.
Perform voice guidance related to the route guidance of the car
A guidance execution unit, an utterance detection unit that detects an utterance state of an occupant of the vehicle, and a guidance sentence data transmitted from the guidance sentence creation unit.
Guidance sentence data content and detection output signal from the utterance detection unit
Voice guidance over the conversation by the crew based on the
Set a predetermined timing to be forwarded, and
At the timing, the memory
Perform the operation of supplying the guidance sentence data to the guidance execution unit.
Voice guidance permission to permit voice guidance by the guidance execution unit
Comprising a part, the said utterance detection unit receives a voice signal from the microphone provided corresponding to the occupant, the voice signal, the sound
Voice output signal from in-vehicle audio device mixed in voice signal
Eliminates the effects of signal components depending on the playback sound based on the signal
Provide for detection of the occupant's utterance status under the condition
A route guidance apparatus using a voice of a car.