INFORMATION PROVIDING APPARATUS

• US 20120232781A1
• Filed: 03/19/2010
• Published: 09/13/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 03/19/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Mitsubishi Electric Corporation
• Original Assignee: Mitsubishi Electric Corporation
• Inventors: Sugawara, Hisashi, Ono, Masayoshi, Morita, Shigeki
• Granted Patent: US 8,924,141 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 701/400
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3655 Timing of guidance instructions
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3691 Retrieval, searching and output of information related to real-time traffic, weather, or environmental conditions arrangements for giving variable traffic instructions G08G1/09
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3697 Output of additional, non-guidance related information, e.g. low fuel level G01C21/3679 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096716 where the received information does not generate an automatic action on the vehicle control
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/09675 where a selection from the received information takes place in the vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096783 where the origin of the information is a roadside individual element
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/163 involving continuous checking

Abstract

An information providing apparatus makes a decision, when an information providing deciding unit decides that driving support information is to be provided, as to whether the output of the voice information about the driving support information responding to a command from the information providing deciding unit and the output of the voice information about route guidance info nation responding to a command from a route guidance unit overlap each other or not, and controls, when they overlap each other, the output of voice information by an information providing output unit in such a manner as to prevent the output of the voice information about the driving support information from overlapping with the output of the voice information about the route guidance information.

Claims

1. An information providing apparatus which is mounted on a mobile unit, the information providing apparatus comprising:

an information communication acquiring unit for acquiring roadside information or information about another mobile unit by means of road/vehicle communication or vehicle-to-vehicle communication;

an operating state detecting unit for detecting an operating state of the mobile unit;

an information providing deciding unit for deciding whether to provide driving support information or not based on the information acquired by the information communication acquiring unit and vehicle side information indicating the operating state detected by the operating state detecting unit, and for commanding to output the driving support information;

a route guidance unit for calculating a route up to a destination of the mobile unit and for commanding to output route guidance information;

an information providing output unit for outputting voice information about the route guidance information and voice information about the driving support information; and

an HMI output control unit for deciding, when the information providing deciding unit makes a decision that the driving support information is to be provided, as to whether output of the voice information about the driving support information responding to the command from the information providing deciding unit and output of the voice information about the route guidance information responding to the command from the route guidance unit overlap each other or not, and for controlling, when they overlap each other, output of voice information from the information providing output unit in a manner as to prevent the output of the voice information about the driving support information from overlapping with the output of the voice information about the route guidance information.

2. The information providing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein

the HMI output control unit controls, when the output of the voice information about the driving support information responding to the command from the information providing deciding unit and the output of the voice information about the route guidance information responding to the command from the route guidance unit overlap each other, the information providing output unit in a manner as to advance output timing of the voice information about the route guidance information and to output the voice information about the driving support information after the output of the voice information about the route guidance information.

3. The information providing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein

the HMI output control unit controls, when the output of the voice information about the driving support information responding to the command from the information providing deciding unit and the output of the voice information about the route guidance information responding to the command from the route guidance unit overlap each other, the information providing output unit in a manner as to delay output timing of the voice information about the route guidance information and to output the voice information about the route guidance information after the output of the voice information about the driving support information.

4. The information providing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein

the HMI output control unit controls, when the output of the voice information about the driving support information responding to the command from the information providing deciding unit and the output of the voice information about the route guidance information responding to the command from the route guidance unit overlap each other, the information providing output unit in a manner as to advance output timing of the voice information about the driving support information and to output the voice information about the route guidance information after the output of the voice information about the driving support information.

5. The information providing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein

the HMI output control unit controls, when the output of the voice information about the driving support information responding to the command from the information providing deciding unit and the output of the voice information about the route guidance information responding to the command from the route guidance unit overlap each other, the information providing output unit in a manner as to delay output timing of the voice information about the driving support information and to output the voice information about the driving support information after the output of the voice information about the route guidance information.

6. The information providing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein

the HMI output control unit controls, when the output of the voice information about the driving support information responding to the command from the information providing deciding unit and the output of the voice information about the route guidance information responding to the command from the route guidance unit overlap each other, the information providing output unit in a manner as to output voice information which has the same meaning as the voice information about the driving support information or the voice information about the route guidance information and which takes a period of time shorter than a period of time required for outputting the voice information about the driving support information or about the route guidance information.

7. The information providing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein

the HMI output control unit controls, when the output of the voice information about the driving support information responding to the command from the information providing deciding unit and the output of the voice information about the route guidance information responding to the command from the route guidance unit overlap each other, the information providing output unit in a manner as to output a single piece of voice information which includes a meaning of the voice information about the driving support information and a meaning of the voice information about the route guidance information.

8. The information providing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein

the HMI output control unit controls, when the output of the voice information about the driving support information responding to the command from the information providing deciding unit and the output of the voice information about the route guidance information responding to the command from the route guidance unit overlap each other, the information providing output unit in a manner as to output text information which has the same meaning as the voice information about the driving support information or the voice information about the route guidance information in a form of image information.

9. The information providing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein

the HMI output control unit decides, when receiving a command to output the voice information about the route guidance information from the route guidance unit, as to whether the operating state of the mobile unit detected by the operating state detecting unit satisfies an operating condition corresponding to a content of the voice information about the route guidance information or not, followed by deciding in accordance with the decision result as to whether the output of the voice information about the driving support information can be commanded or not, and controls, when deciding that the output of the voice information about the driving support information can be commanded, the information providing output unit in a manner as to suppress the output of the voice information about the route guidance information.

10. An information providing apparatus which is mounted on a mobile unit, the information providing apparatus comprising:

an information communication acquiring unit for acquiring roadside information or information about another mobile unit by means of road/vehicle communication or vehicle-to-vehicle communication;

an operating state detecting unit for detecting an operating state of the mobile unit;

an information providing deciding unit for deciding whether to provide driving support information or not based on the information acquired by the information communication acquiring unit and vehicle side information indicating the operating state detected by the operating state detecting unit, and for commanding to output the driving support information;

a route guidance unit for calculating a route up to a destination of the mobile unit and for commanding to output route guidance information;

an information providing output unit for outputting image information about the route guidance information and image information about the driving support information; and

an HMI output control unit for deciding, when the information providing deciding unit makes a decision that the driving support information is to be provided, as to whether output of the image information about the driving support information responding to the command from the information providing deciding unit and output of the image information about the route guidance information responding to the command from the route guidance unit overlap each other or not, and for controlling, when they overlap each other, output of image information from the information providing output unit in a manner as to prevent the image information about the driving support information from being superimposed on the image information about the route guidance information.

11. The information providing apparatus according to claim 10, wherein

the HMI output control unit controls, when the output of the image information about the driving support information responding to the command from the information providing deciding unit and the output of the image information about the route guidance information responding to the command from the route guidance unit overlap each other, the information providing output unit in a manner as to output image information including the image information about the route guidance information and a display content of the image information about the driving support information.

12. An information providing apparatus which is mounted on a mobile unit, the information providing apparatus comprising:

an information communication acquiring unit for acquiring roadside information or information about another mobile unit by means of road/vehicle communication or vehicle-to-vehicle communication;

an operating state detecting unit for detecting an operating state of the mobile unit;

an information providing deciding unit for deciding whether to provide driving support information or not based on the information acquired by the information communication acquiring unit and vehicle side information indicating the operating state detected by the operating state detecting unit, and for commanding to output the driving support information;

a route guidance unit for calculating a route up to a destination of the mobile unit and for commanding to output route guidance information;

an information providing output unit for outputting voice information and image information about the route guidance information and voice information and image information about the driving support information; and

an HMI output control unit for deciding, when the information providing deciding unit makes a decision that the driving support information is to be provided, as to whether output of the voice information and image information about the driving support information responding to the command from the information providing deciding unit and output of the voice information and image information about the route guidance information responding to the command from the route guidance unit overlap each other or not, and for controlling, when they overlap each other, output of voice information and image information from the information providing output unit in a manner as to prevent the output of the voice information and image information about the driving support information from overlapping with the output of the voice information and image information about the route guidance information.