JP6978176B2 - Electronic device - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an in-vehicle device equipped with a navigation function, and more particularly to a method of correcting reliability when a lane position is specified.

The navigation device analyzes the image data captured by the in-vehicle camera, and uses the lane connectivity information stored in the map data and high-precision GPS signals to determine the lane position where the vehicle is traveling. It identifies and enables route guidance for each lane. For example, when the own vehicle enters a branch road, it is possible to provide guidance according to the lane position. The navigation device of Patent Document 1 suspends the guidance process when the accuracy of the vehicle position information is lower than the preset reference accuracy, and starts the guidance process when the accuracy is higher than the reference accuracy. Guidance processing that suits the person's senses is performed.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2008-197004

A problem when route guidance is performed for each lane in a conventional navigation device will be described. From the logical structure of the lane connectivity information, identify the wrong lane position when the actual lane connectivity cannot be accurately reflected in the map database or when the actual lane connectivity and the lane connectivity information in the map database do not match. The situation will occur.

FIG. 6A shows an example of a road shape in which a road R1 having a plurality of lanes L1, L2, and L3 branches into a road R2 having lanes L4 and L5 and a road R3 having lanes L6 and L7. .. Further, the own vehicle M is traveling on the lane L2 of the road R1 toward the branch point P.

In the case of a road shape having such a branch road, in the map data, the lanes L1 and L2 of the road R1 are connected to the lanes L4 and L5 of the road R2, and the lane L3 of the road R1 is connected to the lane L7 of the road R3. , Equipped with lane connectivity information. When the branch determination is made using the lane connectivity information, if the own vehicle M enters the branch road P while traveling on the lane L2, the own vehicle M will travel on the lane L5 of the road R2. Therefore, it is determined that the vehicle has gone straight on the road R2.

However, in reality, the own vehicle M can make a right turn from lane L2 on the road R1 to lane L6 on the road R3, and when the branch determination is made based on the lane connectivity information, the branch determination, that is, the own vehicle travels. I make a mistake in the position of the lane. As a result, as shown in FIG. 6B, the own vehicle M1 is on the road R2 even though the own vehicle M is turning right and traveling on the lane L6 of the road R3 on the display of the navigation device. It is displayed as if traveling in lane L5.

The present invention solves such a conventional problem, and an object of the present invention is to provide an electronic device capable of accurately specifying a lane position of an own vehicle.

The electronic device provided with the navigation function according to the present invention has a storage means for storing map data including road lane information, a own vehicle position detecting means for detecting the own vehicle position, and at least the own vehicle position and the lane information. With reference to the specific means for specifying the lane position in which the own vehicle travels, the determination means for determining whether or not an error occurs when the lane position of the own vehicle is specified by the lane information, and the determination means make an error. When it is determined that the occurrence occurs, the vehicle has a reliability correction means for lowering the reliability of the lane position specified by the specific means.

In certain embodiments, the reliability correction means reduces the reliability of the lane position for a period of time. In one embodiment, the reliability correction means prohibits the specific means from specifying a lane position using the lane information for a certain section. In one embodiment, the reliability correction means causes the specific means to specify a lane position by map matching. In one embodiment, the electronic device further includes a guidance means for guiding the route for each lane in which the vehicle travels, and the reliability correction means prohibits the route guidance means for guiding each lane for a certain section. Let me. In one embodiment, the lane information includes lane connectivity information about a road fork, and the reliability correction means uses the lane connectivity information for the particular means for a period of time including the fork. Prohibit the identification of the lane position where you were. In one embodiment, the determination means is in a predetermined area where the vehicle is located, the orientation of the vehicle is within a predetermined range, and the number of lanes on the road on which the vehicle is traveling is predetermined. When the number of lanes is determined and the lane position of the own vehicle is in a predetermined lane position, it is determined that an error occurs when the lane position of the own vehicle is specified by the lane information.

According to the present invention, when it is determined that an error occurs when the lane position of the own vehicle is specified by the lane information of the map data, the reliability of the lane position specified by the specific means is lowered. , It is possible to suppress the identification of the own vehicle to the wrong lane position, and to prevent the guidance in an inappropriate lane unit.

It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the in-vehicle device which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a figure explaining the composition example of the map data. It is a figure which shows the functional structure of the reliability correction program which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a figure explaining the content of the reliability correction program which concerns on this Example. It is a flowchart explaining the reliability correction operation which concerns on this Example. It is a figure explaining the problem of the conventional navigation device.

Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail. The electronic device according to the present invention can be an in-vehicle device fixedly mounted on a moving body such as an automobile, a portable computer device that can be carried into the moving body, or the like. The electronic device of the present invention is equipped with a navigation function, but other functions include, for example, a function of playing audio / video data, a function of receiving television / radio broadcasts, and a function of executing application software. It may be installed.

Next, examples of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an in-vehicle device according to an embodiment of the present invention. The vehicle-mounted device 100 according to this embodiment includes an input unit 110, a vehicle position detection unit 120, a navigation unit 130, an image pickup unit 140, a voice output unit 150, a display unit 160, a communication unit 170, a storage unit 180, and a control unit 190. Consists of including.

The input unit 110 receives an instruction from the user and provides the instruction to the control unit 190. The own vehicle position detection unit 120 detects the own vehicle position based on GPS positioning, a self-contained navigation sensor (for example, a gyro sensor, an acceleration sensor, etc.) and the like.

The navigation unit 130 causes the display unit 160 to display the corresponding map data based on the vehicle position detected by the vehicle position detection unit 120, and guides the road around the vehicle position. Further, the navigation unit 130 identifies the lane position in which the vehicle travels by referring to the vehicle position detected by the vehicle position detection unit 120, the image data captured by the image pickup unit 140, the map data, and the like. Has the function of The details of the map data will be described later.

The image pickup unit 140 includes, for example, one or a plurality of cameras installed at the rear, front, side, etc. of the own vehicle. The image pickup unit 140 takes an image of the road surface including the lane (white line) on the road on which the own vehicle travels. The captured image data or the analysis result thereof is provided to the navigation unit 130, and the navigation unit 130 uses this information to identify the lane position in which the own vehicle travels.

The voice output unit 150 outputs voice such as guidance when the navigation unit 130 is executed, and the display unit 160 displays a road map when the navigation unit 130 is executed. The communication unit 170 enables wired or wireless data communication with an external device, an external network, or the like. The storage unit 180 stores map data used by the navigation unit 130, application software executed by the in-vehicle device 100, and the like.

FIG. 2 shows an example of map data. The map data includes link data 180, node data 182, facility data 184, and the like. The link data 180 is road information connecting nodes, and includes road types such as general roads and expressways, coordinates of start and end points of links, direction of links, lane information of roads, and the like. The lane information of the road further includes the number of lanes, the lane connectivity indicating the connection relationship with the lane of the other link when the link is connected to the other link at a branch point, an intersection, or the like. As for the lane connectivity, in the example of FIG. 6, the lane L1 of the road R1 is connected to the lane L4 of the road R2, the lane L2 of the road R1 is connected to the lane L5 of the road R2, and the lane L3 of the road R1 is a road. This is information that defines the relationship connected to the link L6 or L7 of R3. The lane connectivity is used, for example, to determine a branch when the vehicle passes through an intersection, a branch point, or the like, or to specify a lane position for that purpose. The node data 182 is information representing the position coordinates of an intersection, a branch point, and the like, the attributes of the intersection, and the like. The facility data 184 is information indicating each facility drawn on the map.

The map data may be provided in advance by the storage unit 180, or may be acquired from a server or the like that distributes the map data via the communication unit 170 at any time when the navigation unit 130 executes the map data. You may.

The control unit 190 controls the overall operation of the in-vehicle device 100. In this embodiment, the control unit 190 includes a microcontroller or microprocessor including a ROM / RAM or the like, and executes a reliability correction program 200 that corrects the reliability when specifying the lane position of the own vehicle. The reliability correction program 200 is operated when the navigation unit 130 is executed.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a functional configuration of the reliability correction program 200. The reliability correction program 200 includes a designated area determination unit 210, a vehicle direction determination unit 220, a designated lane number determination unit 230, a lane position determination unit 240, and a reliability reduction unit 250. The designated area determination unit 210, the vehicle direction determination unit 220, the designated lane number determination unit 230, and the lane position determination unit 240 specify an erroneous lane position when the lane position is specified using the lane information of the map data. This is a process for determining the condition of the road shape. These configurations will be described with reference to FIG.

The designated area determination unit 210 determines whether or not the own vehicle M exists in, for example, the rectangular region Z, based on the own vehicle position information detected by the own vehicle position detection unit 120. The rectangular area Z is specified by latitude and longitude. The rectangular area Z defines an area where the lane position of the own vehicle may be erroneously specified, and is an area including, for example, a branch point or an intersection. In the example of FIG. 6, it is a rectangular area including the branch point P. The branch point P is a position where the road R1 branches into the road R2 and the road R3, and the branch point P is a common node to which these three links are connected.

The rectangular region Z may be defined in advance in association with the branch point P, or if the branch point P exists in front of the branch point P while the vehicle M is traveling, the rectangular region Z includes the branch point P. The rectangular area Z may be determined. In the latter case, at least the information for determining the size of the rectangular region Z (length in the latitude direction, length in the longitude direction) is predetermined. In addition, by specifying a rectangular area by latitude and longitude, it is possible to reduce the load of arithmetic processing compared to the case of extracting a road by specifying a complicated shape, and it is possible to further limit the target area to a smaller size. Is.

The area determined by the designated area determination unit 210 is not necessarily limited to a rectangular area, and may have other shapes. For example, the designated area determination unit 210 determines whether or not the own vehicle M exists in an area such as a polygon, a circle, or an ellipse having a polygonal shape. Polygons are identified by latitude and longitude coordinates, circles are identified by center coordinates and radii, and ellipses are identified by center coordinates and major and minor axes. In the example of FIG. 6, the polygon, the circle, the ellipse, and the like are regions including the branch point P, and it is determined whether or not the own vehicle exists in this region.

The own vehicle direction determination unit 220 determines whether or not the angle formed by the traveling direction of the own vehicle M and the direction of the road in the traveling direction is within a certain range. That is, roads within a certain range in the traveling direction of the own vehicle are extracted. The traveling direction of the own vehicle M is calculated from, for example, the link direction included in the link data in which the own vehicle travels, the temporal change in the position of the own vehicle, the change in the angular velocity sensor, and the like. In the example of FIG. 4, the own vehicle direction determination unit 220 extracts the link direction of the road R1 on which the own vehicle M travels and the road within a certain range, for example, ± 45 degrees. If the angle θ formed by the link direction of the road R1 and the link direction of the road R3 is within 45, the road R3 is extracted.
By limiting the direction of travel, for example, roads in the opposite direction can be excluded from the target.

The designated number of lanes determination unit 230 determines whether or not the number of lanes on the road on which the own vehicle M is traveling is the number of lanes designated in advance. This makes it possible to limit the target roads. For example, in the example of FIG. 4, if the number of designated lanes is 3, the road R1 is included in the target.

The lane position determination unit 240 determines whether or not the lane in which the own vehicle travels is a predetermined lane position. This makes it possible to limit a specific lane position. As described above, the navigation unit 130 specifies the lane position in which the own vehicle travels, and determines whether or not the specified lane position is the designated lane position. In the example of FIG. 4, if the designated lane is L2, the target is when the own vehicle is traveling in lane L2, and the case where the own vehicle is traveling in other lanes is excluded.

The reliability lowering unit 250 determines whether or not the determination results of the designated area determination unit 210, the own vehicle direction determination unit 220, the designated lane number determination unit 230, and the lane position determination unit 240 reduce the reliability of the lane position. Is what you do. In other words, when the designated area determination unit 210, the own vehicle direction determination unit 220, the designated number of lanes determination unit 230, and the lane position determination unit 240 specify the lane position of the own vehicle using the lane information of the map data, the lanes are used. It determines whether or not an error can occur in the identification of the position. When it is determined that such an error can occur, the reliability reduction unit 250 reduces the reliability of the lane position for a certain section or a certain distance. The fixed section is the size obtained by adding a certain margin to the distance at which the lane position returns to the correct position. For example, in the example of FIG. 6, it is a section in which a constant value is added to the distance at which the own vehicle position M returns to the road R3.

Specifically, the reliability lowering unit 250 prohibits the specification of the lane position using the lane information of the map data for a certain section, and instead specifies the road on which the own vehicle travels by the map mapping process. .. For example, the link closest to the position of the vehicle is extracted, and the link within a certain angle range with the traveling direction of the vehicle is specified. Map matching identifies roads rather than lane locations. In the example of FIG. 6, in the branch determination of the own vehicle, the road R3 on which the own vehicle travels is specified by performing the branch determination by the map matching process without using the lane connectivity information included in the lane information.

Further, the reliability lowering unit 250 stops the guidance for each lane for a certain section and provides guidance for each road. In the example of FIG. 6, when the route guidance for the own vehicle M to proceed on the road R3 is made, the rough guidance "Please proceed in the lane on the right side" is given. If the route guidance is for each lane, if your vehicle is traveling on the left side of the target lane, "Please move to the right side of one lane", if your vehicle is traveling on the target lane. Will be informed that "Please continue on this lane".

Next, the reliability correction operation of the lane position of this embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. The navigation unit 130 is operated as the vehicle travels, and the lane position of the vehicle is specified based on the vehicle position, the lane information of the map theta, and the like (S100). In the subsequent traveling process, the designated area determination unit 210 determines whether or not the own vehicle exists in the designated rectangular area (S102). If it is determined that the vehicle is within the specified rectangular area, the vehicle is traveling on a road where the wrong lane position may be identified.

When it is determined that the vehicle is within the rectangular region, the vehicle orientation determination unit 220 then determines whether or not the vehicle's traveling direction is within ± 45 degrees with respect to the traveling direction of the branch road, for example. It is determined (S104). If it is within ± 45 degrees, then the designated number of lanes determination unit 230 determines whether or not the vehicle is traveling on the road with the specified number of lanes (S106), and then the lane position determination unit 240 determines. It is determined whether or not the own vehicle is traveling in the designated lane position (S108).

When the traveling of the own vehicle satisfies all the conditions of steps S102 to S108, the process of lowering the reliability of the lane position is performed by the reliability lowering unit 250 for a certain section (S110). For example, instead of providing route guidance in lane units, rough route guidance is performed in road units, and instead of specifying lane positions using lane connectivity information, road identification is performed using map matching processing.

The reliability lowering unit 250 monitors the position of the own vehicle, determines whether or not the own vehicle has traveled in a certain section (S112), and if the certain section has passed, the processing of lowering the reliability of the lane position is stopped. , Return to normal reliability processing. On the other hand, if any of the conditions of steps S102 to S108 is not met, the reliability reduction process is not performed.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, when the lane position is specified using the lane information of the map data, the lane position is specified when the wrong lane position is specified due to the difference from the actual road shape. Since the reliability of the vehicle is lowered, the lane position of the own vehicle can be specified more accurately. Further, it is possible to prevent the position of the own vehicle from being displayed on an inappropriate road on the road map of the display unit 160.

Although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail above, the present invention is not limited to the specific embodiments, and various aspects of the present invention are described within the scope of the claims. It can be transformed and changed.

100: In-vehicle device 110: Input unit 120: Own vehicle position detection 130: Navigation unit 140: Imaging unit 150: Voice output unit 160: Display unit 170: Communication unit 180: Storage unit 190: Control unit 200: Reliability correction program 210 : Designated area determination unit 220: Own vehicle direction determination unit 230: Designated lane number determination unit 240: Lane position determination unit 250: Reliability reduction unit

Claims (7)

An electronic device with a navigation function
A storage means for storing map data including road lane information,
Vehicle position detection means to detect the vehicle position and
With reference to at least the position of the own vehicle and the lane information, a specific means for specifying the position of the lane in which the own vehicle travels, and
A determination means for determining whether or not an error occurs when the lane position of the own vehicle is specified from the lane information.
When it is determined that an error occurs by the determination means, the determination means has a reliability correction means for lowering the reliability of the lane position specified by the specific means.
The lane information includes lane connectivity information regarding a branch road of a road, and the reliability correction means specifies a lane position using the lane connectivity information for the specific means for a certain section including the branch road. Prohibit electronic devices. An electronic device with a navigation function
A storage means for storing map data including road lane information,
Vehicle position detection means to detect the vehicle position and
With reference to at least the position of the own vehicle and the lane information, a specific means for specifying the position of the lane in which the own vehicle travels, and
A determination means for determining whether or not an error occurs when the lane position of the own vehicle is specified from the lane information.
When it is determined that an error occurs by the determination means, the determination means has a reliability correction means for lowering the reliability of the lane position specified by the specific means.
In the determination means, the position of the own vehicle is within a predetermined area, the direction of the own vehicle is within a predetermined range, and the number of lanes on the road on which the own vehicle is traveling is a predetermined number of lanes. An electronic device that determines that an error occurs when the lane position of the own vehicle is specified by the lane information when the lane position of the own vehicle is in a predetermined lane position. The electronic device according to claim 1 or 2 , wherein the reliability correction means reduces the reliability of the lane position for a certain section. The electronic device according to claim 2 , wherein the reliability correction means prohibits the specific means from specifying a lane position using the lane information for a certain section. The electronic device according to claim 1 or 2 , wherein the reliability correction means causes the specific means to specify a lane position by map matching. The electronic device also includes a guidance means for guiding the route for each lane in which the vehicle travels.
The electronic device according to claim 1 or 2 , wherein the reliability correction means prohibits the route guidance means from guiding each lane for a certain section. Electronic devices also include means of communication that perform data communication with the outside world.
The electronic device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the storage means stores map data acquired via the communication means.

Images