JP4683380B2 - Lane change guidance device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a lane change guidance device for guiding lane change.

  As the vehicle travels, the current position is detected by GPS (Global Positioning System), etc., and the current position is displayed on a display device together with a road map, and an appropriate route from the starting point to the destination The vehicle-mounted navigation device that guides the user with a display device or a voice output device contributes to efficient and safe driving for the user.

  When using this in-vehicle navigation device, a recommended route from the current position to the destination is calculated and displayed when the user inputs the destination. By following this instruction, the user can reach the destination without hesitation. Also, a car navigation device has been devised that guides a vehicle to travel in a right turn lane before the intersection when there is an intersection on the guide route that is to turn right (see Patent Document 1).

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 09-126889

  Some in-vehicle navigation devices such as Patent Document 1 store road information indicating the number of lanes of a road that is currently running and which lanes are convenient for turning left and right or going straight ahead. The turning direction information for each lane, such as the turning direction for each lane, and the traveling direction information for each lane such as going straight are not stored.

  A lane change prohibition section is provided on a road having a plurality of traveling lanes such as an intersection as necessary. There is a lane change prohibition section in front of the lane that is currently running, and if it runs as it is, the driver (user) may not be able to advance in the direction that he wants to go, and there is often a situation where the lane to run immediately needs to be changed, If you are too close to the lane change prohibited section or if you are in an area where the change of the driving lane is prohibited, you may be forced to proceed unintentionally in the lane where the vehicle is currently driving .

  In this case, proceed in an unintentional direction once again, and correct the direction of the course again at the intersection ahead or make a U-turn, etc. It is a common experience to suffer from disadvantages such as making a round trip and delaying arrival at the destination.

  For example, some lanes that are closest to the center of the road can both go straight and turn right at the intersection, and some lanes are dedicated to turning right. Information on which lanes are restricted in which direction within an intersection is often noticed for the first time after approaching the vicinity of the position where the lane cannot be changed immediately before the intersection and looking at the yellow line indicating lane change prohibition . In addition, there are cases where signs / signs or the like indicating the driving directions for each lane are installed in front of an intersection or the like, but they are often overlooked when traveling on unfamiliar land.

  For example, while driving on the second lane from the center of a four-lane road on one side, if you think that this lane can go straight and approach the intersection, both the center lane and the second lane are both right turn lanes and you cannot go straight on. Even if it is displayed, and it is already a lane change prohibition section, it may be unavoidable to make a right turn to move to the third straight lane from the center. As a result, problems such as the inconvenience of returning to the original route as described above and losing sight of the road occur.

  Against the background of the above problem, an object of the present invention is to provide a lane change guidance device that performs guidance so that a driver can travel in a lane in a traveling direction intended by a driver at an intersection.

Means for Solving the Problems and Effects of the Invention

The present invention provides a lane change guide device for solving the above-described problems. That is, a traveling direction identifying unit that identifies the traveling direction of the vehicle, a position detecting unit that detects the current position of the vehicle, a map data storage unit that includes information on the position of the intersection, and an image that captures the lane in the traveling direction of the vehicle Lane information extraction means for extracting lane information including a lane change prohibition section in the lane before the intersection and a vehicle travelable direction in the lane change prohibition section from the captured image of the lane, and the extracted lane Lane information storage means for storing information in association with the position of the intersection specified based on the detected current position of the vehicle, and a lane acquisition for acquiring which lane the vehicle is traveling in front of the intersection preparative means, from the lane information storage means, and the lane information acquisition unit that the vehicle obtains the lane information of the lane during driving, at the intersection, the direction of travel intended by the vehicle The intended traveling direction acquisition unit that, by comparing the traveling direction the vehicle is intended by the lane information and the vehicle lane traveling, travelable direction of the vehicle in the vehicle is the lane change prohibition zone lane traveling, The lane change determination means for determining whether or not the traveling direction intended by the vehicle is the same as the traveling direction of the vehicle in the lane change prohibition section of the lane in which the vehicle is traveling is different from the intended traveling direction of the vehicle, Guidance timing determining means for determining whether or not a predetermined timing for guiding a change of the lane in which the vehicle is traveling has arrived when it is determined that the lane in which the vehicle is traveling needs to be changed; , the vehicle when the timing to guide the lane change of the traveling is determined to have arrived, it is assumed that having a lane change guidance means the vehicle to guide the lane change during running, the.

  The present invention provides a safe and reliable lane by guiding in advance in advance whether or not each lane is designated to go straight or turn left and right, and from which point lane change regulation is performed before traveling at an intersection with a plurality of lanes. It is possible to make changes. As a result, the lane can be changed with a margin in advance, and there is no inconvenience to surrounding vehicles due to the sudden lane change. In addition, it is possible to prevent unintentional travel in a direction where the user does not want to go, and the arrival at the destination is not delayed due to a large turn. Furthermore, it is possible to prevent a violation of the road traffic law by forcibly changing the lane in the lane change prohibited section.

  With the above configuration, it is possible to acquire intersection lane information that is not stored in the lane information storage unit, and use the acquired lane information for lane change guidance.

Further , the lane change guide device of the present invention can have a configuration having lane information updating means for updating lane information stored in the lane information storage means with the extracted lane information.

  There are cases where the lane information changes due to lane increase / decrease or lane change prohibition section ranges being changed to improve the road environment. With the above configuration, the latest lane information can always be acquired and stored, and the stored lane information can be used for lane change determination.

  With the above configuration, it is possible to change the lane with a sufficient margin in advance, and there is no inconvenience to surrounding vehicles due to the abrupt lane change. In addition, it is possible to prevent unintentional travel in a direction where the user does not want to go, and the arrival at the destination is not delayed due to a large turn. Furthermore, it is possible to prevent a violation of the road traffic law by forcibly changing the lane in the lane change prohibited section.

Also, the lane information in the lane change guidance apparatus of the present invention comprises an origin of lane change prohibition zone, and a distance calculating means for calculating a distance between the origin of the current position and the lane change prohibition period of the detected vehicle The guidance timing determination means can be configured to determine when the timing for guiding the change of the lane in which the vehicle is traveling has arrived when the calculated distance reaches a predetermined value.

  With the above configuration, the lane change can be made with a margin before the starting point of the lane change prohibition section, and the surrounding vehicles are not disturbed by the sudden lane change. In addition, it is possible to prevent unintentional travel in a direction where the user does not want to go, and the arrival at the destination is not delayed due to a large turn. Furthermore, it is possible to prevent a violation of the road traffic law by forcibly changing the lane in the lane change prohibited section.

Further , the lane change guidance device of the present invention calculates an estimated arrival time for the vehicle to reach the starting point of the lane change prohibition section from the vehicle speed detection means for detecting the speed of the vehicle and the calculated distance and the detected vehicle speed. An estimated arrival time calculating means, and the guidance timing determining means can be configured to determine that a predetermined time before the calculated estimated arrival time is a timing for guiding the change of the lane in which the vehicle is traveling. .

  Even if the distance between the current position of the vehicle and the starting point of the lane change prohibited section is the same, the time to reach the starting point of the lane change prohibited section is different if the vehicle speed is different. With the above configuration, lane change guidance is provided before the starting point of the lane change prohibition section for fast vehicles, and it is possible to change lanes with a margin regardless of the speed of the vehicle. There will be no inconvenience to other vehicles. In addition, it is possible to prevent unintentional travel in a direction where the user does not want to go, and the arrival at the destination is not delayed due to a large turn. Furthermore, it is possible to prevent a violation of the road traffic law by forcibly changing the lane in the lane change prohibited section.

Further, the lane change guide means in the lane change guide device of the present invention includes a display means for displaying a lane that is a target of lane change guidance while the vehicle is traveling with a display design different from other lanes. Can do.

  With the above configuration, the user can visually grasp which lane to drive and can perform a driving operation with a margin.

Further, the lane change guidance apparatus of the present invention has a route guidance means for guiding a route to a destination, intended travel direction acquiring means, to a configuration for acquiring the traveling direction intended by the vehicle from the path guided Can do.

  With the above-described configuration, it is possible to acquire the traveling direction intended by the user without the user performing an input operation other than the destination setting.

Further , the lane change guide device of the present invention has an input operation means for performing a predetermined input operation, and the intended travel direction acquisition means can be configured to acquire the intended travel direction of the vehicle from the input operation.

  With the above-described configuration, it is possible to acquire the traveling direction intended by the user even when the route to the destination is not being guided.

  The purpose of providing a lane change guidance device that provides guidance so that the driver can travel in the lane in the direction of travel intended by the driver at the intersection, specifying that each lane should go straight or turn right or left before traveling at an intersection with multiple lanes This is realized by a configuration that guides in advance from where the lane change regulations are applied.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings, using an example in which the lane change guide device of the present invention is applied to an in-vehicle navigation device (hereinafter abbreviated as a navigation device). In addition, the application range of the lane change guide device of the present invention is not limited to the in-vehicle navigation device. For example, it is good also as a structure mounted in the vehicle 40 (refer FIG. 1) including the function equivalent to the lane change guidance apparatus of this invention, such as the position detector 1 (after-mentioned) and the navigation program 21p (after-mentioned) on a personal computer. .

  As shown in FIG. 1A, the lane change guidance device includes a navigation device 100 and a camera 25. The camera 25 is installed in a place where the lane ahead of the vehicle 40 can be photographed, for example, at the center of the ceiling. Moreover, you may install in the center (position C of FIG.1 (b)) of the dash panel of the vehicle 40. FIG. As shown in FIG. 1A, in the camera 25, a region A indicated by a broken line is an up-and-down photographing range. In addition, as shown in FIG. 1B, the left and right imaging range B of the camera 25 can capture white lines or yellow lines on the road surface on both sides of the traveling lane of the vehicle 40 using, for example, a wide-angle lens. Yes.

  The camera 25 which is the photographing means of the present invention is constituted by a known CCD camera, for example. In addition, a lane change guidance device can be used if it is shared with a suspicious person intrusion detection camera for detecting an intruder into the vehicle 40, a front monitoring camera for photographing the front of the vehicle 40 for measuring the distance between vehicles, a lane keeping system camera, or the like. The cost can be reduced.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the navigation device 100. The navigation device 100 includes a position detector 1, a map data input device 6, an operation switch group 7, a remote control (hereinafter referred to as remote control) sensor 11, a voice synthesis circuit 24 for performing voice guidance, a speaker 15, a nonvolatile memory 9, a display And a hard disk device (HDD) 21, a control circuit 8 connected thereto, and a remote control terminal 12.

  The position detector 1 which is a position detecting means of the present invention includes a known geomagnetic sensor 2, a gyroscope 3 for detecting the rotational angular velocity of the vehicle 40, a distance sensor 4 for detecting the traveling distance of the vehicle 40, and a radio wave from a satellite. A GPS receiver 5 that detects the position of the vehicle 40 is provided. Since these sensors 2, 3, 4, and 5 have errors of different properties, they are configured to be used while being complemented by a plurality of sensors. Depending on the accuracy, some of the above-described sensors may be used, and further, a steering rotation sensor or a wheel sensor of each rolling wheel, such as a vehicle speed sensor 23, may be used.

  As the operation switch group 7, for example, a touch panel 22 integrated with the display device 10 or a mechanical switch is used. The touch panel 22 is pressed when an electric circuit is wired on the screen of the display 10 in the X-axis direction and the Y-axis direction through a gap called a spacer on a glass substrate and a transparent film, and the user touches the film. Since the voltage value changes due to short-circuiting of a part of the wiring, a so-called resistance film method for detecting this as a two-dimensional coordinate value (X, Y) is widely used. In addition, a so-called capacitance method may be used. In addition to the mechanical switch, a pointing device such as a mouse or a cursor may be used.

  It is also possible to input various instructions using the microphone 31 and the voice recognition unit 30. In this method, a voice signal input from the microphone 31 is processed by a voice recognition technique such as a well-known hidden Markov model in the voice recognition unit 30, and converted into an operation command corresponding to the result. Various instructions can be input by the operation switch group 7, the remote control terminal 12, and the microphone 31 which are the input operation means of the present invention.

  The transmitter / receiver 13 is connected to a road traffic from a VICS (Vehicle Information and Communication System) center 14 by an optical beacon or a radio beacon output from a transmitter (not shown) provided along the road, for example. It is a device for receiving information or receiving FM multiplex broadcasting.

  In addition, by communicating with an ETC (Electronic Toll Collection) vehicle-mounted device 16, the fee information received by the ETC vehicle-mounted device 16 from an ETC road device (not shown) can be taken into the navigation device 100. . Further, the ETC vehicle-mounted device 16 may be connected to an external network and communicate with the VICS center 14 or the like.

  Travel lane acquisition means, lane information acquisition means, travel intention direction acquisition means, lane change determination means, lane information update means, guidance timing determination means, distance measurement means, expected arrival time calculation means, route guidance means of the present invention, The control circuit 8 is configured as a normal computer, and includes a well-known CPU 81, ROM 82, RAM 83, I / O 84 which is an input / output circuit, and a bus line 85 which connects these configurations. The CPU 81 controls the navigation program 21p and data stored in the HDD 21. The CPU 81 controls the reading / writing of data to / from the HDD 21. The A / D conversion unit 86 includes a well-known A / D (analog / digital) conversion circuit, and converts analog data input from the position detector 1 or the like to the control circuit 8 into digital data that can be calculated by the CPU 81, for example. It is. The ROM 82 may store a program for performing a minimum necessary operation among the navigation functions when the HDD 21 fails.

  The image processing unit 87 as lane information extracting means of the present invention includes an image processing circuit that analyzes an image photographed by the camera 25 by a known technique such as pattern recognition.

  In addition to the navigation program 21p, so-called map matching data for improving the accuracy of position detection and map data 21m including road data representing road connections are stored in the HDD 21, which is the lane information storage means of the present invention. . The map data 21m stores predetermined map image information for display and road network information including link information and node information. The link information is predetermined section information constituting each road, and includes position coordinates, distance, required time, road width, number of lanes, speed limit, and the like. The node information is information that defines an intersection (branch road) and the like, and includes position coordinates, the number of right / left turn lanes, a connection destination road link, and the like. In addition, data indicating whether or not traffic is permitted is set in the link connection information.

  In addition, in the HDD 21, auxiliary information for route guidance, entertainment information, and other data can be written independently by the user and stored as user data 21u. The user data 21 u can be rewritten by operating the operation switch group 7, the touch panel 22 and the remote control terminal 12, or by inputting voice from the microphone 31. Further, data and various information necessary for the operation of the navigation device 100 may be stored as the database 21d.

  The navigation program 21p, the map data 21m, and the user data 21u can be added / updated from the storage medium 20 via the map data input device 6. The storage medium 20 is generally a CD-ROM or DVD based on the amount of data, but may be another medium such as a memory card. Moreover, you may use the structure which downloads data via an external network.

  The non-volatile memory 9 is constituted by a rewritable semiconductor memory such as an EEPROM (Electrically Erasable & Programmable Read Only Memory) or a flash memory, and information and data necessary for the operation of the navigation device 100. Is remembered. The nonvolatile memory 9 is configured to retain the stored contents even when the accessory switch of the vehicle 40 is turned off, that is, the navigation device 100 is turned off. Further, information and data necessary for the operation of the navigation device 100 may be stored in the HDD 21 instead of the nonvolatile memory 9. Furthermore, information and data necessary for the operation of the navigation device 100 may be stored separately in the nonvolatile memory 9 and the HDD 21.

  The display 10 as a lane change guide means and display means of the present invention is composed of a known color liquid crystal display, and includes a dot matrix LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) and a driver circuit (not shown) for performing LCD display control. It is configured. The driver circuit uses, for example, an active matrix driving method in which a transistor is attached to each pixel so that the target pixel can be reliably turned on and off, and is based on a display command and display screen data sent from the control circuit 8. To display. Further, an organic EL (ElectroLuminescence) display or a plasma display may be used as the display 10.

  The speaker 15 which is a lane change guide means of the present invention is connected to a known voice synthesis circuit 24, and digital voice data stored in the nonvolatile memory 9 or the HDD 21 is converted into analog voice by the voice synthesis circuit 24 in accordance with a command of the navigation program 21p. Is sent out. Note that the speech synthesis method includes a recording / editing method in which speech waveforms are stored as they are or after being encoded and connected as necessary.

  The vehicle speed sensor 23 includes a rotation detection unit such as a known rotary encoder. For example, the vehicle speed sensor 23 is installed in the vicinity of the wheel mounting unit to detect the rotation of the wheel and send it to the control circuit 8 as a pulse signal. In the control circuit 8, the number of rotations of the wheel is converted into the speed of the vehicle 40 to calculate an expected arrival time from the current position of the vehicle 40 to a predetermined place, or an average vehicle speed for each travel section of the vehicle 40. To do.

  A LAN (Local Area Network) I / F 26 is an interface circuit for exchanging data with other in-vehicle devices and sensors via the in-vehicle LAN 27. Further, data may be taken from the vehicle speed sensor 23 or connected to the ETC on-vehicle device 16 via the LAN I / F 26.

  With this configuration, when the navigation program 21p is activated by the CPU 81 of the control circuit 8, the navigation device 100 allows the user to operate the operation switch group 7, the touch panel 22, the remote control terminal 12, or the voice from the microphone 31. When the route guidance processing for displaying the destination route on the display 10 is selected from the menu displayed on the display 10 by the input, the following processing is performed.

  That is, when the user selects a point from a point or facility search or address search on the map, a registered point set by the user, etc. and sets it as a destination, the position detector 1 determines the current position of the vehicle 40, A process for obtaining an optimum guide route from the current position to the destination is performed. Then, the guidance route is displayed on the road map on the display 10 so as to guide the user to the appropriate route. As a method for automatically setting an optimum guide route, a method such as the Dijkstra method is known. In addition, at least one of the display 10 and the speaker 15 provides a guidance according to an operation or a message according to an operation state.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the map data 21m or the database 21d stores lane information related to the lane change prohibition section at the intersection. This lane information includes, for example, the name of an intersection, the position of the intersection, the presence / absence of a lane change prohibition section, the travel direction for each lane, the starting point of the lane change prohibition section, and the like.

  The lane change guidance process according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. This process is included in the navigation program 21p and is repeatedly executed together with other programs of the navigation program 21p. First, whether or not to perform the lane change guidance is set by the operation of the operation switch group 7, the touch panel 22 and the remote control terminal 12 by the user or by voice input from the microphone 31. Like other operation / setting menus of the navigation device 100, this is done by selecting an item relating to lane change guidance from the setting items displayed on the display screen of the display device 10, and pressing a selection button on the display screen. To do. The setting contents are stored in a predetermined storage area of the HDD 21 or the nonvolatile memory 9.

  In FIG. 4, referring to the HDD 21 or the non-volatile memory 9, when the lane change guidance mode is not set (S1: No), normal navigation display is performed (S11).

  On the other hand, when it is set to perform lane change guidance (S1: Yes), the vehicle 40 is detected from the current position of the vehicle 40 detected by the position detector 1, the map data 21m, and the lane information of FIG. Check if the lane change prohibition section is included in the intersection at. When the lane change prohibition section is not included in the intersection in front of the vehicle 40 (S2: No), the intersection ahead is searched to check whether the lane change prohibition section is included in the intersection (S10). ).

  When the lane change prohibition section L is included at the intersection ahead of the vehicle 40 (S2: Yes), when the vehicle 40 travels as it is with reference to the lane information in FIG. The intended traveling direction is checked, and it is checked whether the traveling in the intended traveling direction is possible. When it is possible to proceed in the traveling direction intended by the user (S3: No), as described above, the intersections ahead of the road are sequentially searched (S10).

The travel direction intended by the user is determined using at least one of the following.
(1) When the navigation device 100 is performing route guidance, that is, when the vehicle 40 is traveling along the guide route displayed on the screen of the display 10, the travel direction indicated by the guide route Is the travel direction intended by the user.
(2) When the navigation device 100 is not performing route guidance, the current traveling direction of the vehicle 40 is set as the traveling direction intended by the user. The traveling direction of the vehicle 40 can be obtained from the transition of the current position of the vehicle detected by the position detector 1.
(3) When an operation (right turn / left turn) of the direction indicating switch 28 for blinking the direction indicator lamp is performed at the time of turning right or left, the operation state is detected and set as the traveling direction intended by the user.
(4) Provided in the operation switch group 7 is a switch that can input a traveling direction intended by the user on a handle (not shown) or the like.
(5) A travel direction intended by the user is input by voice input from the microphone 31.

On the other hand, if there is a possibility that the vehicle may not be able to travel in the traveling direction intended by the user (S3: Yes), the lane change between the straight lane L2 and the right turn lane L3 in the lane change prohibited section L in FIG. wait for access to the origin _{P A2} bandgap Y2 (S5), when the vehicle 40 has approached a predetermined distance to the origin _{P A2} (S4: Yes), for example, the vehicle 40 in FIG. 5 lane changeable zone Z When the vehicle 40 travels in the current lane when traveling in the center lane L2 and travels in the current lane (S6: Yes), for example, “Now Please keep driving in this lane as it is "on the display 10 or send it from the speaker 15 (S7).

  On the other hand, for example, when the vehicle 40 is still traveling in the lane L2, as in the case where the vehicle 40 is traveling in the center lane L2 of the lane changeable zone Z in FIG. If you cannot drive in the direction you intended (S6: No), display a message such as “Turn right at this intersection. You will not be able to change lanes after about 100m. Enter the right lane.” Displayed on the device 10 or sent from the speaker 15 (S8), prompting the user to change the lane to the right turn lane L3.

In addition to the above, the notification of the message may also be performed when the vehicle 40 is at a distance of 50 m to the starting point P _A2 or at a distance of 30 m.

A message notification timing to close or user to the origin P _A2 lane change prohibition zone Y2, the distance the distance is calculated, and the calculated between the current position and the start point P _A2 of the vehicle 40 detected by the position detector 1 For example, the vehicle speed may be taken into consideration in addition to a predetermined value such as 100 m. That is, the calculated distance is divided by the vehicle speed detected by the vehicle speed sensor 23 to calculate the expected arrival time from the current position of the vehicle 40 to the starting point _PA2 , and a message indicating, for example, 10 seconds before the calculated expected arrival time is displayed. The notification timing is used. Similarly to the above, the message may be notified 5 seconds before and 3 seconds before the expected arrival time.

  It is good also as a structure which a user can set said alerting | reporting timing.

  When prompting the user to change the lane to the right turn lane L3, the display on the display 10 displays an intersection enlarged screen as shown in FIG. 5 separately from the map, and an area between the intersection A of the right turn lane L3 and the vehicle 40 May be displayed prominently in a display color different from the straight turn left lane L1 and the straight lane L2, or the area may be blinked.

  Further, in order to notify the user that the vehicle is approaching the lane lane change prohibition band Y2, the lane change prohibition band Y2 may be displayed in a color different from the other lane change prohibition band Y1 or may be blinked. .

  The lane information collection process using the camera 25 will be described with reference to FIG. This process is included in the navigation program 21p and is repeatedly executed together with other programs of the navigation program 21p. First, photographing by the camera 25 is started by the operation of the operation switch group 7, the touch panel 22 and the remote control terminal 12 by the user, or voice input from the microphone 31 (S21). During the operation of the navigation device 100, the photographing state may be always set.

  The captured video data is sent to the control circuit 8 together with the position data of the vehicle 40 detected by the position detector 1.

  The video signal photographed by the camera 25 is converted into digital multi-valued image data for each pixel by subjecting the video signal to general binarization processing in the image processing unit 87 of the control circuit 8. Then, from the obtained multi-valued image data, using a general image processing method (S22), it is determined whether a lane is included, and a lane change prohibition zone (a continuous line of yellow or white) is included in the lane. Find out if it is included.

  When the multi-value image data changes from a state in which no lane change prohibition band is included to a state in which a lane change prohibition band is included (S23: Yes), the current position of the vehicle 40 at the time of the change is prohibited from changing lanes. The starting point of the section is set (S24).

  When the multi-valued image data changes from the state where the lane change prohibition band is included to the state where the lane change prohibition band is not included (S25: Yes), the current position of the vehicle 40 at the time of the change is prohibited from changing the lane. The end point of the section is set (S26). From the detected end point and the map data 21m, for example, an intersection within a predetermined distance from the detected end point is regarded as an intersection including a lane change prohibition zone, and the position of the intersection is specified (S27), as lane information. It is registered in the map data 21m or the database 21d (S28).

  When there is no intersection within a predetermined distance from the detected end point, it is assumed that a lane change prohibition zone is newly provided, and the end point is stored in the lane information as the intersection position.

  As shown in FIG. 3, when the update date / time of the information is stored in the lane information, and the lane information acquired by the camera 25 is the lane information of the intersection B, for example, the stored update date / time and the lane information are acquired. The lane information of the intersection B may be updated when the acquired date is new by comparing the acquired date and time.

  The date and time information includes an RTC (Real Time Counter) for the control circuit 8 or the CPU 81 of the vehicle-mounted navigation device 100 to keep time, for example, information generated by the RTC based on the date and time set at the time of factory shipment, Any one acquired by communication with a vehicle-mounted device, one included in a GPS signal acquired by the GPS receiver 5, or one acquired from a facility / device outside the vehicle by communication may be used.

  Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, these are merely examples, and the present invention is not limited to these embodiments, and the knowledge of those skilled in the art can be used without departing from the spirit of the claims. Various modifications based on this are possible.

The figure which shows the structure of a lane change guidance apparatus. The block diagram which shows the structure of a vehicle-mounted navigation apparatus. The figure which shows an example of lane information. The flowchart for demonstrating a lane change guidance process. The figure which shows an example of an intersection. The flowchart for demonstrating a lane information collection process.

Explanation of symbols

1 Position detector (position detection means)
7 Operation switch group (input operation means)
8 Control circuit (running lane acquisition means, lane information acquisition means, intended travel direction acquisition means, lane change determination means, lane information update means, guidance timing determination means, distance measurement means, expected arrival time calculation means, route guidance means)
10 Indicator (lane change guidance means, display means)
12 Remote control terminal (input operation means)
15 Speaker (lane change guidance means)
21 Hard disk device (lane information storage means)
23 Vehicle speed sensor (vehicle speed detection means)
25 Camera (photographing means)
31 Microphone (input operation means)
87 Image processing unit (lane information extraction means)
100 Car navigation system

Claims (7)

A traveling direction identifying means for identifying the traveling direction of the vehicle;
Position detecting means for detecting a current position of the vehicle;
Map data storage means including information on the position of the intersection;
Photographing means for photographing a lane in the traveling direction of the vehicle;
Lane information extraction means for extracting lane information including a lane change prohibition section in the lane before the intersection and a lane change prohibition section in the lane change prohibition section from the photographed lane image;
Lane information storage means for storing the extracted lane information in association with the position of the intersection specified based on the detected current position of the vehicle;
Traveling lane acquisition means for acquiring which lane in front of the intersection the vehicle is traveling;
Lane information acquisition means for acquiring lane information of a lane in which the vehicle is traveling from the lane information storage means;
At the intersection, intended traveling direction acquisition means for acquiring the intended traveling direction of the vehicle;
Comparing the lane information of the lane in which the vehicle is traveling and the travel direction intended by the vehicle, the travelable direction of the vehicle in the lane change prohibition section of the lane in which the vehicle is traveling is determined by the intention of the vehicle Lane change determining means for determining whether or not the traveling direction is the same ,
When it is determined that the travelable direction of the vehicle in the lane change prohibition section of the lane in which the vehicle is traveling is different from the intended travel direction of the vehicle, and it is necessary to change the lane in which the vehicle is traveling In addition, a guidance timing determination means for determining whether or not a timing for guiding a change in the lane in which the vehicle is traveling has arrived,
Lane change guidance means for guiding a change in the lane in which the vehicle is running when it is determined that the timing for guiding the change in the lane in which the vehicle is running has arrived ;
A lane change guidance device characterized by comprising:   The lane change guidance device according to claim 1, further comprising lane information update means for updating lane information stored in the lane information storage means with the extracted lane information. The lane information includes a starting point of the lane change prohibition section,
Distance calculating means for calculating a distance between the detected current position of the vehicle and the starting point of the lane change prohibited section;
The said guidance timing determination means determines that the timing which guides the change of the lane in which the vehicle is drive | working has come when the calculated distance becomes a predetermined value . Lane change guidance device. Vehicle speed detection means for detecting the speed of the vehicle;
Expected arrival time calculating means for calculating an expected arrival time for the vehicle to reach the starting point of the lane change prohibition section from the calculated distance and the detected vehicle speed,
The lane change guidance device according to claim 3 , wherein the guidance timing determination unit determines that a timing for guiding a change of a lane in which the vehicle is traveling has arrived a predetermined time before the calculated expected arrival time . 5. The lane change guide means includes display means for displaying a lane that is a target of lane change guidance while the vehicle is traveling in a display design different from other lanes. The lane change guidance device according to item . Having route guidance means for guiding the route to the destination,
The lane change guidance device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the intended travel direction acquisition unit acquires a travel direction intended by the vehicle from the guided route . Having an input operation means for performing a predetermined input operation;
The lane change guide device according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the intended travel direction acquisition unit acquires a travel direction intended by the vehicle from the input operation .

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