ROUTE GUIDANCE METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR IMPLEMENTING SUCH A METHOD, AS WELL AS A CORRESPONDING COMPUTER PROGRAM AND A CORRESPONDING COMPUTER-READABLE STORAGE MEDIUM

• US 20100042314A1
• Filed: 10/12/2007
• Published: 02/18/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 12/06/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Robert Bosch GmbH
• Original Assignee: Robert Bosch GmbH
• Inventors: Mai, Kerstin, Vogt, Wilhelm, Varchmin, Axel
• Granted Patent: US 8,620,575 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 701/200
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3461 Preferred or disfavoured areas, e.g. dangerous zones, toll or emission zones, intersections, manoeuvre types, segments such as motorways, toll roads, ferries
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3484 Personalized, e.g. from learned user behaviour or user-defined profiles
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096827 where the route is computed onboard
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096838 where the user preferences are taken into account or the user selects one route out of a plurality
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096861 where the immediate route instructions are output to the driver, e.g. arrow signs for next turn

Abstract

The invention relates to a route guidance method and a system for implementing such a method, and a corresponding computer-readable storage medium, which in particular may be used for an adaptive route guidance, the travel routes being selected that offer the highest safety when following the required driving maneuvers. For this purpose, it is recommended to output driving recommendations as a function of the risk of calculated routes. To this end, information about the current traffic situation in the surroundings of the vehicle is evaluated, the risk of the driving maneuvers resulting from calculated routes is evaluated using the results of the evaluation by at least one computer program, and driving instructions are output as a function of the evaluation.

Claims

1-24. -24. (canceled)

25. A route guidance method, comprising:

calculating at least one route by a navigation system based on information about destination and start location; and

outputting driving recommendations as a function of risk of calculated routes.

26. The route guidance method according to claim 25, further comprising:

evaluating routes as function of at least one of a static risk and a dynamic risk.

27. The route guidance method according to claim 26, wherein static risks are taken into account already in an initial route calculation.

28. The route guidance method according to claim 26, wherein dynamic risks are included in a route calculation at short notice.

29. The route guidance method according to claim 26, wherein when evaluating a route, risks are taken into account as a function of a user of the route guidance method.

30. The route guidance method according to claim 25, further comprising:

evaluating information about a current traffic situation in surroundings of a user of the route guidance method;

evaluating a risk of motion behavior resulting from calculated routes using results of the evaluation by at least one computer program; and

outputting driving recommendations as a function of the evaluation.

31. The route guidance method according to claim 30, wherein the computer program one of:

includes at least one interface to a navigation system, and is integrated in the navigation system, and wherein driving recommendations are output by the navigation system as a function of the risk evaluation.

32. The route guidance method according to claim 30, wherein calculating at least one route includes evaluating the routes as a function of time required to travel the route and route length, and evaluating the motion behavior resulting from the routes as a function of the risk and at least one of the time and route-length difference relative to alternative routes.

33. The route guidance method according to claim 30, further comprising:

determining timing of the outputting of driving recommendations as a function of the evaluation of risks of the motion behavior.

34. The route guidance method according to claim 33, further comprising:

when the risk of the motion behavior is high, outputting driving recommendations for a travel route that is optimal in terms of at least one of time and distance earlier than when the risk of the motion behavior is low.

35. The route guidance method according to claim 33, further comprising:

when the risk of the motion behavior for an optimal route is high, outputting driving recommendations for a route that is suboptimal in terms of time and route length.

36. The route guidance method according to claim 25, wherein driving recommendations are output for a plurality of alternative routes.

37. The route guidance method according to claim 36, further comprising:

determining a sequence of the outputting of driving recommendations as a function of the evaluation of a respective route.

38. The route guidance method according to claim 36, further comprising:

outputting information about at least one of time and length of routes.

39. The route guidance method according to claim 25, wherein in an event that a vehicle driver uses the route guidance method, travel routes are determined by automatic coordination with neighboring vehicles.

40. The route guidance method according to claim 25, wherein when the driving recommendations are output visually, the driving recommendations are output in at least one of:

(i) one of different colors and gray-scale values, and (ii) different levels of brightness, as a function of the evaluation.

41. The route guidance method according to claim 30, wherein the information about the current traffic situation is obtained via at least one of radar sensors, video sensors, biometric sensors, vehicle environment sensors, vehicle-to-vehicle (Car2Car) sensors, vehicle-surroundings sensors (Car2Infrastructure sensors), a TMC system (TMC=Traffic Message Channel), a traffic control center, and a traffic control device.

42. The route guidance method according to claim 30, wherein the risk evaluation at least one of (a) is performed for at least one of (i) turning maneuvers required in order to follow a respective route and (ii) lane changes required in order to follow the respective route, and (b) takes into account at least one of (i) traffic density in the surroundings of a vehicle, (ii) speed of the vehicle, and (iii) alternative routes.

43. A system comprising:

at least one of (i) at least one chip and (ii) at least one processor configured to calculate at least one route by a navigation system based on information about destination and start location, and configured to output driving recommendations as a function of risk of calculated routes.

44. The system according to claim 43, further comprising a navigation system.

45. The system according to claim 43, further comprising:

at least one of a radar sensor, a video sensor, a biometric sensor, a vehicle environment sensor, a vehicle-to-vehicle (Car2Car) sensor, and a vehicle-surroundings sensor (Car2Infrastructure sensor).

46. A computer program which, when loaded in a memory of a data processing device, executes a route guidance method, including calculating at least one route by a navigation system based on information about destination and start location, and outputting driving recommendations as a function of risk of calculated routes.

47. A computer-readable storage medium containing a program which, when loaded in a memory of a data processing device, executes a route guidance method, including calculating at least one route by a navigation system based on information about destination and start location, and outputting driving recommendations as a function of risk of calculated routes.

48. A method comprising:

downloading a computer program from an electronic data network to a data-processing device connected to the data network,

wherein the computer program, when loaded in a memory of a data processing device, executes a route guidance method, including calculating at least one route by a navigation system based on information about destination and start location, and outputting driving recommendations as a function of risk of calculated routes.