JP4237546B2 - Congestion status display method and in-vehicle information terminal - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a method for displaying a traffic jam screen on an in-vehicle information terminal such as a navigation device.
[0002]
[Prior art]
A road traffic information communication system (VICS) that provides various road traffic information such as traffic congestion and traffic restrictions has been put into practical use. In this system, various road traffic information (VICS information) collected at the VICS center is transmitted to the vehicle by radio wave beacons, optical beacons, FM multiplex broadcasting, or the like. In the vehicle, the received VICS information is provided to a user such as a driver by a screen display or the like. The VICS information has three levels from level 1 to level 3 in which the contents of the provided information are different. This level changes depending on the function of the in-vehicle information terminal that receives and displays the VICS information. To do. For example, the level 3 VICS information provides detailed traffic conditions, traffic regulation information, parking space availability information, and the like for each road. As an in-vehicle information terminal that receives this level 3 VICS information and provides it to a user, a navigation device that displays a road map on a screen and displays a traffic jam situation corresponding to each point on the map by a symbol such as an arrow is known. ing. (Patent Document 1).
[0003]
[Patent Document 1]
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-227648
In the navigation device of Patent Document 1, when the map display is wide, the roads included in the screen increase and the traffic congestion status display of each road becomes complicated, so the visibility of the screen is deteriorated. In order to avoid this, in a map display of a wider area than a predetermined scale, the traffic congestion state is usually not displayed. Therefore, if the route to the destination or waypoint is long and the map display on a scale that can display the traffic situation cannot display all the routes on the screen, the traffic situation of the entire route cannot be displayed at a time. This makes it difficult to grasp the traffic situation of the entire route.
[0005]
The present invention provides a display method and an in-vehicle information terminal capable of easily grasping the traffic situation of the entire route in the screen display of the traffic situation performed based on VICS information and the like.
[0006]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
The traffic congestion status display method according to the invention of claim 1 sets a vehicle route, acquires traffic jam information in which one of a plurality of types of congestion is set for each road section, and based on the traffic jam information, the entire route A graph having a plurality of graph elements each calculating a cumulative distance for each congestion degree, calculating a ratio of the cumulative distance for each congestion degree to a distance of the entire route, and representing a ratio of the cumulative distance for each calculated congestion degree By displaying, the traffic congestion status in the entire route is displayed.
The invention according to claim 2 is applied in the method for displaying a traffic jam according to claim 1, and the plurality of graph elements respectively represent the ratio of the cumulative distance for each degree of congestion according to the length thereof.
The invention of claim 3 is applied in the traffic congestion status display method according to claim 1 or 2, and when a portion where traffic information cannot be obtained is included in the route, the ratio of the cumulative distance of the portion to the distance of the entire route is calculated. The graph element to represent is added to the graph.
The invention of claim 4 is applied in the traffic congestion status display method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, and displays a part or the entire road map of the route, and displays a part of the route map of the route. When displayed, the display of the graph is permitted, and when the entire road map of the route is displayed, the display of the graph is prohibited.
The invention of claim 5 is applied in the traffic congestion status display method according to any one of claims 1 to 4 and displays the road map of the route at a set scale, and the scale of the road map is more than a predetermined scale. If it is on the detailed side, the congestion status of each road is displayed on the road map and the graph is prohibited. If the scale of the road map is wider than the predetermined scale, the congestion status of each road on the road map is displayed. Display is prohibited and graph display is allowed.
The invention of claim 6 is applied in the traffic congestion status display method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, and the traffic congestion information is provided by road traffic information transmitted from the outside.
An in-vehicle information terminal according to a seventh aspect of the invention is mounted on a vehicle and executes the traffic congestion status display method according to any one of the first to sixth aspects.
[0007]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
A configuration of a navigation apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention is shown in FIG. The navigation device 1 of FIG. 1 receives VICS information transmitted by radio wave beacons, optical beacons, FM multiplex broadcasting, etc., in addition to normal navigation functions such as map display, and provides them to the user by screen display or the like. . Furthermore, the traffic congestion information on the road, which is one of the VICS information, is displayed by superimposing the traffic congestion state on the map, and when the set route does not fit within the screen, the traffic congestion state of the entire route is displayed. The ratio is displayed. The navigation device 1 includes a control circuit 11, ROM 12, RAM 13, current location detection device 14, image memory 15, display monitor 16, input device 17, VICS information reception unit 18, and disk drive 19. The disk drive 19 is loaded with a DVD-ROM 20 on which map data is recorded.
[0008]
The control circuit 11 includes a microprocessor and its peripheral circuits, and performs various controls by executing a control program stored in the ROM 12 using the RAM 13 as a work area. The current location detection device 14 is a device that detects the current location of the vehicle. For example, from a direction sensor 14a that detects the traveling direction of the vehicle, a vehicle speed sensor 14b that detects the vehicle speed, a GPS sensor 14c that detects a GPS signal from a GPS satellite, and the like. Become. The navigation device 1 determines a map display range, a route search start point, and the like based on the current location of the vehicle detected by the current location detection device 14, and displays the current location on the map.
[0009]
The image memory 15 stores image data to be displayed on the display monitor 16. This image data includes road map drawing data, various graphic data, and the like, which are appropriately selected based on map data recorded on the DVD-ROM 20 read by the disk drive 19. The navigation apparatus 1 can display a map by using the image data selected in this way.
[0010]
The display monitor 16 displays various information such as a map near the vehicle position on the screen based on various information such as map data and provides it to the user. The input device 17 has various input switches for the user to set a destination and a transit point of the vehicle (hereinafter simply referred to as a destination), which is realized by an operation panel, a remote controller, or the like. The user operates the input device 17 in accordance with a screen instruction displayed on the display monitor 16 to specify a place name or a position on a map and set a destination.
[0011]
When the destination is set by the user, the navigation apparatus 1 performs a route calculation to the destination based on a predetermined algorithm using the current location detected by the current location detection device 14 as a route search start point. The route thus obtained (hereinafter referred to as a guidance route) is displayed on the screen in a manner distinct from other roads by changing the display form, for example, the display color. Thereby, the user can recognize the guide route on the map on the screen. In addition, the navigation device 1 instructs the user in the direction of travel using an image or sound so that the vehicle can travel according to the guidance route, and guides the vehicle.
[0012]
The VICS information receiving unit 18 receives VICS information such as traffic jam information supplied from a VICS information center (not shown) and outputs it to the control circuit 11. This VICS information is transmitted mainly by radio beacons installed on highways, optical beacons installed mainly on general roads, or FM multiplex broadcasting. Radio wave beacons and optical beacons transmit VICS information to vehicles passing near the installation point, and FM multiplex broadcasting covers a wider communication area. The navigation device 1 receives the VICS information transmitted by them by the VICS information receiving unit 18. In the VICS information received in this way, only traffic jam information in a certain area near the current location, for example, the same prefecture is provided. For this reason, a base station that obtains nationwide traffic jam information from the VICS center may be provided, and the nationwide traffic jam information may be distributed from the base station via a mobile phone line or the like.
[0013]
The disk drive 19 reads the map data for displaying the map on the display monitor 16 from the loaded DVD-ROM 20. The map data may be read from a recording medium other than the DVD-ROM, such as a CD-ROM or a hard disk.
[0014]
The control circuit 11 images various VICS information received by the VICS information receiving unit 18, such as traffic jam information and traffic regulation information, and displays them on the display monitor 16. This VICS information has three levels, level 1 to level 3, and the display form differs depending on the level. As an example, display of traffic information will be described. In level 1, information such as the name of a traffic jam point, the traffic jam distance, and the required time between certain points is displayed in characters. At level 2, the traffic congestion status is displayed using simple figures (representing road alignment in simple figures), characters, symbols, and the like. For example, the rough positional relationship between the current location and a specific point is indicated by simple figures and characters, and the traffic situation between them is displayed in red or orange. At level 3, a display showing the traffic situation is superimposed on the map.
[0015]
Level 3 traffic jam information is set with three types of congestion levels that are distinguished by the degree of congestion. When the degree of congestion is low, that is, when it is not so crowded, “smooth” is set as the degree of congestion. When the degree of congestion is intermediate and relatively busy, “congested” is set as the degree of congestion. In a state where the degree of congestion is high or extremely congested, “congestion” is set as the degree of congestion. These congestion levels are set based on various data collected at the VICS information center, for example, the result of measuring the passing time of a vehicle between specific points.
[0016]
The VICS information transmitted to the navigation device 1 is set as described above for each link string (map data in which information on roads in a certain section is recorded as information on a plurality of links and nodes) as traffic jam information. The congestion level to be used, the position of the start point of the congestion level (distance from the end of the link row when viewed from the current location side), and the range of the congestion level (distance from the start point to the end point) Contains information. The navigation device 1 specifies the degree of congestion and the range for each road based on such traffic jam information. When a plurality of congestion levels are set for one link row, the VICS information has traffic jam information as described above for each link.
[0017]
In addition, the link row | line | column in VICS information and the link row | line | column in the map data of the navigation apparatus 1 may not correspond. In such a case, the navigation apparatus 1 has a conversion table for associating these link strings, and by using the conversion table, the traffic congestion status is displayed on the map based on the traffic congestion information of the VICS information. Can do.
[0018]
In accordance with the congestion level set in the received VICS information, the navigation device 1 is green for the “smooth” range, orange for the “congested” range, and red for the “congested” range. Are superimposed on the corresponding road map and displayed. An example of an image displayed on the display monitor 16 in this way is shown in FIG. This shows a detailed map of the current location 21 and its vicinity. The road indicated by reference numeral 22 is a guide route, and the degree of congestion for each range of the guide route 22 is indicated by the display colors of reference numerals 25 to 28 displayed superimposed on the guide route. Here, the display colors 25 and 27 are red indicating “congestion”, the display color 26 is orange indicating “congestion”, and the display color 28 is green indicating “smooth”. Further, the road 23 that is not the guide route is also indicated as “smooth” by the green display color 29. Note that the road 24 is not subject to the VICS information, and the traffic congestion status is not displayed.
[0019]
Further, in FIG. 2A, the entire traffic route 22, that is, the traffic situation from the current location 21 to the destination outside the screen is shown by a bar graph (hereinafter referred to as VICS information bar) indicated by reference numeral 30. The VICS information bar 30 is a total of the distances for each degree of congestion for the entire guidance route 22 and displays the ratio. The graph elements 30a, 30b, and 30c represent the ratio of the cumulative value of the range (distance) that is “smooth”, “congested”, and “congested”, respectively, and are displayed in green, orange, and red, respectively. The total value of these ratios is 1 (100%).
[0020]
Note that if the guidance route 22 includes a road that is not subject to VICS information, the traffic congestion status is unknown for that portion and the congestion level is unknown. In such a case, in addition to the graph elements 30a to 30c described above, it is preferable to add a graph element representing a ratio of a range in which the degree of congestion is unknown to the VICS information bar 30. This graph element is displayed in a display color different from the graph elements 30a to 30c, for example, gray.
[0021]
An example of an image when the map of FIG. 2A is switched to the wide area display is shown in FIG. In this case, the destination 31 is displayed in the screen, and the entire guidance route 22 is displayed. Also in FIG. 2B, the same VICS information bar 30 as in FIG. 2A is displayed. Note that, unlike FIG. 2A, the traffic jam situation for each road is not displayed in FIG. 2B. This is because, in general, in a navigation device, as the map is displayed in a wide area, the number of roads included in the screen increases, and the display of traffic conditions on each road becomes complicated, resulting in poor screen visibility. This is because, in order to avoid this, normally, the traffic jam situation is not displayed in the wide area display than the predetermined scale.
[0022]
By using the VICS information bar as described above, the navigation device 1 displays the traffic congestion status when the entire guidance route is not displayed on the screen as shown in FIG. 2A or when the traffic congestion status is displayed as shown in FIG. Even in the case of a wide area map that is not performed, the traffic congestion status of the entire guidance route can be displayed by the ratio of the cumulative distance of each congestion degree. Thus, the user can grasp the rough traffic situation of the entire guidance route. The conditions for displaying the VICS information bar are only for the case where the entire guidance route is not displayed on the screen as described above or for a wide area map where the traffic congestion status is not displayed. Switch on / off. Alternatively, other display conditions may be used. For example, display conditions such as always displaying in any case or switching the display on and off by a user operation can be set.
[0023]
FIG. 3 shows a flowchart of processing executed in the control circuit 11 when displaying the VICS information bar on the screen. This process is executed at predetermined time intervals, for example, every 5 minutes when the above display condition is satisfied. In step S1, the current location is set as an integration point. This integration point is a point set on the guidance route in order to perform the processes of steps S2 to S8 described below. In this step S1, the current location is set as the first integration point. In addition, after performing step S1, the process of step S2-step S8 is repeatedly performed as one process cycle until step S8 is affirmed.
[0024]
In step S2, an integration point (next integration point) in the next processing cycle is set on the guidance route. As the next integration point, one of a point at which the degree of congestion is switched, a rear end of the link string when viewed from the current location side, or a destination is set. If the congestion level is the same from the integration point to the rear end of the link row, the next integration point is the rear end of the link row, and if the congestion level changes midway, the next integration point is the point where the change occurs. . In any case, when there is a destination in the middle, the next accumulated point is set as the destination. As described above, the congestion information based on the VICS information includes one or more congestion levels for each link row, the position of the congestion start point, and the distance from the congestion start point. Yes. Thus, the next integration point is set as described above based on the received VICS information.
[0025]
In step S3, the degree of congestion from the integration point to the next integration point set in step S2 is determined based on the received VICS information. If the congestion level is “congestion”, the distance from the integration point to the next integration point is added to the congestion distance in step S4. Similarly, if the congestion degree is “congestion”, it is added to the congestion distance in step S5, and if the congestion degree is “smooth”, it is added to the smooth distance in step S6. The congestion distance, the congestion distance, and the smooth distance here are cumulative distances obtained by adding the distances of the sections having the congestion degrees “congestion”, “congestion”, and “smooth”, respectively, from the current location to the destination.
[0026]
In step S7, the next integration point set in step S2 is set as the integration point in the next processing cycle. Each process of the next processing cycle is executed by the integration point newly set in step S7 and the next integration point set in step S2 of the next processing cycle. In step S8, it is determined whether or not the integration point in the next processing cycle set in step S7, that is, the next integration point in the current processing cycle is the destination. If it is the destination, the process proceeds to step S9, and if it is not the destination, the process returns to step S2.
[0027]
In steps S9 to S11, a traffic jam rate, a congestion rate, and a smooth rate are calculated. The traffic jam rate here is calculated as the rate of the traffic jam distance accumulated in step S4 executed so far with respect to the distance of the entire guidance route. Similarly, the congestion ratio is the ratio of the congestion distance accumulated in step S5 executed so far to the entire guidance route, and the smoothing ratio is the ratio of the smooth distance accumulated in step S6 executed so far to the entire guidance route. Is calculated as In addition, the distance of the whole guidance route is calculated as a distance combining the congestion distance, the congestion distance, and the smooth distance accumulated in steps S4 to S6, respectively. That is, the traffic jam rate, the congestion rate, and the smooth rate are calculated by the following equations (1) to (3), respectively.
[Expression 1]
Congestion rate = Congestion distance / (Congestion distance + Congestion distance + Smooth distance) (1)
Congestion rate = Congestion distance / (Congestion distance + Congestion distance + Smooth distance) (2)
Smooth ratio = Smooth distance / (Congestion distance + Congestion distance + Smooth distance) (3)
[0028]
In step S12, a bar graph, that is, a VICS information bar having the congestion rate, the congestion rate, and the smoothing rate calculated in steps S9 to S11 as graph elements is created and displayed on the display monitor 16. In this way, the VICS information bar is displayed on the screen. At this time, the values of the congestion distance, the congestion distance, and the smooth distance may be written in each graph element. If step S12 is performed, the processing flow of FIG. 3 will be complete | finished.
[0029]
Note that the explanation of FIG. 3 above is for a case where the guidance route does not include a road that is not subject to VICS information, but there are cases where the guidance route includes a road that is not subject to VICS information. It can be. In such a case, the ratio of roads that are not subject to VICS information in the guidance route is calculated by the same calculation method as the congestion ratio, congestion ratio, and smooth ratio described above, and this is also added to the VICS information bar. It is preferable.
[0030]
According to the navigation device 1 described above, the cumulative distance is calculated for each congestion degree for the entire guidance route based on the congestion degree of “congestion”, “congestion”, and “smooth” set in the congestion information by the VICS information ( Steps S4 to S6), the ratio of each cumulative distance to the distance of the entire guidance route is calculated (Steps S9 to S11). A VICS information bar is created and displayed with the traffic congestion ratio, congestion ratio and smoothness ratio calculated in this way as graph elements (step S12). Since it did in this way, the user can grasp | ascertain the rough traffic condition of the whole guidance path | route with the VICS information bar even when the whole guidance path | route is not displayed on the screen, or in the case of the wide area map where the traffic congestion situation is not displayed.
[0031]
In the above-described embodiment, the overall traffic situation is displayed for the guidance route from the current location to the destination set by the user, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, it is good also as displaying the traffic condition of the whole about the path | route set arbitrarily on the map, or all the roads in a fixed area. Alternatively, when one or a plurality of waypoints are set in the guidance route, the traffic congestion state to each waypoint may be switched and displayed.
[0032]
In addition, the ratio of the cumulative distance for each degree of congestion may be displayed as a pie chart or a column chart. Furthermore, although the graph elements of the smoothing rate, the congestion rate, and the congestion rate are represented by the display colors of green, orange, and red, respectively, other colors and display forms may be used.
[0033]
In the above-described embodiment, the congestion status of the entire route is represented by the ratio of the cumulative distance for each congestion degree. However, for example, it may be represented by the ratio of the cumulative time obtained by accumulating the estimated passage time for each congestion degree. . Note that the estimated passage time for each degree of congestion may or may not be included in the congestion information based on the VICS information. If it is included in the traffic jam information, the accumulated time can be calculated by accumulating the estimated passing time for each congestion degree. On the other hand, if it is not included in the traffic jam information, the estimated transit time is calculated based on the congestion level and distance set in the traffic jam information, the road type of the map information, etc., and the cumulative time is calculated accordingly. be able to.
[0034]
In the above embodiment, the example using the traffic information of the VICS information provided from the VICS center has been described, but traffic information other than this may be used. For example, the present invention can also be applied to a system in which nationwide traffic jam information distributed by the Internet is acquired by a personal computer, and this is read and displayed on an in-vehicle information terminal.
[0035]
The present invention is not limited to the components used in the above embodiment, and any configuration may be used as long as the characteristics of the present invention are not impaired.
[0036]
【The invention's effect】
According to the present invention, since the ratio of the traffic congestion status of the entire route is displayed, the traffic congestion status of the entire route can be displayed even when the entire guidance route is not displayed on the screen or in the case of a wide area map where the traffic congestion status is not displayed. It can be easily grasped.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of an in-vehicle information terminal that is an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a view showing an example of a display image of a traffic jam situation, and (a) is a display example of a VICS information bar showing a detailed map near the current location, the traffic jam situation, and the ratio of the traffic jam situation of the entire guide route. , (B) is a display example of a map, its traffic condition and the VICS information bar when switched to wide area display.
FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing processing contents when a VICS information bar is displayed.
[Explanation of symbols]
1: Navigation device 11: Control circuit 12: ROM 13: RAM
14: Current location detection device 15: Image memory 16: Display monitor 17: Input device 18: VICS information receiving unit 19: Disk drive 20: DVD-ROM 21: Current location 22: Guide route 30: VICS information bar

Claims (7)

Set the vehicle route,
Get traffic information with one of multiple types of congestion for each road section,
Calculate the cumulative distance for each congestion degree in the entire route based on the traffic jam information,
Calculate the ratio of the cumulative distance for each congestion degree to the distance of the entire route,
A traffic congestion status display method, characterized by displaying a traffic congestion status in the entire route by displaying a graph having a plurality of graph elements each representing a ratio of the calculated cumulative distance for each congestion degree . In the traffic congestion status display method according to claim 1,
The method of displaying a traffic jam condition, wherein the plurality of graph elements each represent a ratio of a cumulative distance for each degree of congestion according to a length thereof. In the traffic congestion status display method according to claim 1 or 2,
When a portion where the traffic information cannot be acquired is included in the route, a graph element indicating a ratio of a cumulative distance of the portion with respect to the distance of the entire route is added to the graph. In the traffic congestion status display method according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
Display a road map of part or all of the route,
Display of the graph is permitted when a partial road map of the route is displayed, and display of the graph is prohibited when the entire road map of the route is displayed. . In the display method of the traffic congestion condition as described in any one of Claims 1-4,
Display the road map of the route at a set scale,
When the scale of the road map is more detailed than the predetermined scale, the traffic map displays the traffic situation of each road and prohibits the display of the graph, and the scale of the road map is less than the predetermined scale. A traffic congestion status display method, characterized in that, if it is on a wide area side, display of the traffic congestion status of each road on the road map is prohibited and display of the graph is permitted. In the display method of the traffic congestion condition in any one of Claims 1-5 ,
The traffic jam information is provided by road traffic information transmitted from the outside, and the traffic jam status display method. Mounted on a vehicle, vehicle information terminal to perform the method of displaying traffic conditions of any of claims 1-6.

Images