METHOD FOR FLEXIBLY ADJUSTING A NAVIGATION PATH AND DEVICE THEREOF

• US 20130204521A1
• Filed: 02/05/2013
• Published: 08/08/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 02/07/2012
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Inventec Appliances Company Limited (Inventec Corporation), Inventec Appliances Corporation (Inventec Corporation), Inventec Appliances (Pudong) Corp. (Inventec Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Inventec Appliances Company Limited (Inventec Corporation), Inventec Appliances Corporation (Inventec Corporation), Inventec Appliances (Pudong) Corp. (Inventec Corporation)
• Inventors: Liu, Chen-Chen, Ho, Yi-Hua
• Application Number:
  US13/759,859
• Publication Number:
  US 20130204521A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 701/423
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3453 Special cost functions, i.e. other than distance or default speed limit of road segments
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3492 employing speed data or traffic data, e.g. real-time or historical traffic control systems for road vehicles involving transmission of navigation instructions to the vehicle G08G1/0968

Abstract

The present invention is related to a method for flexibly adjusting a navigation path and a device thereof. The method is applied to a navigation device, and the navigation device may obtain current position information and speed information through a satellite positioning module, then access a map corresponding to the current position information from a map database, continuously the navigation device defines a specific scope adjacent to the vehicle thereof and accesses corresponding traffic sign messages as a changing time in the specific scope from a traffic sign database, then plans a plurality of paths, and respectively calculates the total travel time of each path according to the current speed information and sign features corresponding to traffic signs so as to choose a path with a shortest total travel time as a best navigation path and avoid a path with traffic lights or railroad crossing lights.

Claims

1. A method for flexibly adjusting a navigation path, applicable to a navigation device having a map database and a traffic sign database, wherein the map database has a plurality of maps and a plurality of path features corresponding to the maps, the traffic sign database has a plurality of traffic sign messages corresponding to a plurality of traffic sign features respectively, and the method comprises:

obtaining current position information of a current position and current speed information of current speed;

accessing the map corresponding to the current position information and the path feature corresponding to the map from the map database;

defining a specific scope which has a predetermined distance from the current position;

accessing the corresponding traffic sign messages in the specific scope from the traffic sign database;

planning a plurality of paths according to the current position information, the specific scope and the path features corresponding to the maps;

calculating total travel time of each of the paths according to the current speed information and the traffic sign features corresponding to the traffic sign messages; and

displaying one of the paths with a shortest total travel time.

2. The method for flexibly adjusting the navigation path according to claim 1, wherein the path features are selected from the group consisting of position, length, single or two-way path, and path type.

3. The method for flexibly adjusting the navigation path according to claim 2, wherein the traffic sign features are selected from the group consisting of position, state and changing time of traffic signs.

4. The method for flexibly adjusting the navigation path according to claim 3, wherein the state comprises at least one vehicle-stopping state.

5. The method for flexibly adjusting the navigation path according to claim 4, wherein the step of calculating the total travel time of each of the paths comprises the steps of:

obtaining a travel time by a path length of each of the paths in the specific scope being divided by the current speed;

respectively calculating a sign hinder time of each of the paths according to the current speed information while passing each of the traffic signs in the vehicle-stopping state and a stopping time corresponding to each of the traffic signs in the vehicle-stopping state; and

calculating the total travel time according to the sum of the travel time and the corresponding sign hinder time.

6. The method for flexibly adjusting the navigation path according to claim 1 further comprising:

receiving geographical information, wherein the geographic information is corresponding to a geographical position; and

obtaining the current position information, accessing the corresponding maps from the map database according to the geographical information, planning an initial path between the current position and the geographical position, and displaying the initial path.

7. A navigation device comprising:

a satellite positioning module, configured to obtain current position information of a current position and current speed information of current speed;

a storing unit, configured to store a map database and a traffic sign database, the map database having a plurality of maps and a plurality of path features corresponding to the maps, the traffic sign database having a plurality of traffic sign messages corresponding to a plurality of traffic sign features respectively;

a processing unit, connecting with the satellite positioning module and the storing unit respectively, configured to define a specific scope which has a predetermined distance from the current position, configured to access the corresponding traffic sign messages in the specific scope from the traffic sign database, configured to plan a plurality of paths according to the current position information, the specific scope and the path features corresponding to the maps, and configured to calculate total travel time of each of the paths according to the current speed information and the traffic sign features corresponding to the traffic sign messages; and

a display unit, connecting with the processing unit, configured to display a path with a shortest total travel time from the paths.

8. The navigation device according to claim 7, wherein the path features are selected from the group consisting of position, length, single or two-way path, and path type.

9. The navigation device according to claim 8, wherein the traffic sign features are selected from the group consisting of position, state and changing time of traffic signs.

10. The navigation device according to claim 7 further comprising an input unit, connecting with the processing unit, configured to receive geographical information and to transfer the geographical information to the processing unit, the geographic information being corresponding to a geographical position, wherein the processing unit is further configured to obtain the current position information via the satellite positioning module, to access the corresponding maps from the map database according to the geographical information, to plan an initial path between the current position and the geographical position, and the display unit is further configured to display the initial path on.