Vehicular navigation system and storage medium

• US 6,108,604 A
• Filed: 08/07/1998
• Issued: 08/22/2000
• Est. Priority Date: 08/08/1997
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Aisin AW Company Limited (Aisin Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Aisin AW Company Limited (Aisin Corp.)
• Inventors: Inoue, Koji, Kato, Shinichi, Fukaya, Takaharu
• Primary Examiner(s): NGUYEN, TAN QUANG
• Application Number:
  US09/131,325
• Time in Patent Office: 746 Days
• Field of Search: 701/201, 701/202, 701/203, 701/208, 701/209, 701/210, 701/211, 340/970, 340/995
• US Class Current: 701/211
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3629 Guidance using speech or audio output, e.g. text-to-speech text to speech systems per se G10L13/00
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096827 where the route is computed onboard
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096861 where the immediate route instructions are output to the driver, e.g. arrow signs for next turn
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096872 where instructions are given per voice

Abstract

A vehicular navigation system includes guide control facilities which acquires stored information of an angle between a road entering and a road departing a rotary branch on a route stored in route information storing means, the angle of a junction to the rotary, and information of the changing angles of individual links forming the rotary. Direction guidance is performed on the basis of this acquired information along with the present position of a vehicle, a destination, and a computed route.

Claims

1. A vehicular navigation system comprising:

present position detecting means for computing the present position of a vehicle;

information storing means containing area information for guidance in a direction of a road emanating from a guide branch and data necessary for the route guidance, and including direction guide phrase data corresponding to individual areas;

input means for inputting information necessary for computing a route;

route computing means for computing the route on the basis of the information input by said input means;

route information storing means for storing the information of the route, as computed by said route computing means;

output means for outputting information for route guidance; and

guidance control means for outputting the guidance information of a next guidance branch to said output means on the basis of the route, as computed by said route computing means, and the present position detected by said present position detecting means,

wherein said guide control means acquires information of an angle between a road entering and a road departing a rotary branch on a route stored in said route information storing means, and a junction angle and information of changing angles of individual links forming the rotary, and outputs direction guidance information on the basis of the acquired information.

2. A vehicular navigation system according to claim 1,

wherein it is decided on the basis of the names of roads entering and departing the rotary branch and the road states before and after the junctions of the roads whether or not a turn at the rotary branch is a U-turn.

3. A vehicular navigation system according to claim 2,

wherein the U-turn is decided when the numbers of the roads entering and departing the rotary branch are equal but have respective plus and minus signs when the entry road and the departure road carry facing traffic.

4. A vehicular navigation system according to claim 1,

wherein a U-turn of one-way is decided when entry and departure roads to and from the rotary branch have an angular difference within a predetermined range and identical names, roads connected to the entry and departure roads before and after the rotary carry facing traffic and have equal numbers, and the entry and departure roads are one-way and adjacent to each other.

5. A vehicular navigation system according to claim 1,

wherein a straight run is decided when the absolute value of an angular difference between the roads entering and departing the rotary branch is within a first predetermined value, or the absolute value of the angular difference between the entry road and the departure road is larger than the first predetermined value and within a second predetermined value and the absolute value of the angle difference of a road junction is within a third predetermined value.

6. A vehicular navigation system according to claim 1,

wherein right and left turns at a rotary are decided from an angular displacement including rotary links from the entry road to the departure road.

7. A storage medium having programs packaged therein for searching a route to a destination from a starting place to a present place and for providing guidance along the searched route, comprising the storage medium with further programs for:

searching a rotary guidance branch point on the route;

acquiring information on an angle made between the roads entering and departing the rotary branch on the route, information on junctions in the rotary, and information on changing angles of individual links between junctions forming the rotary; and

outputting direction guidance information on the basis of the acquired information of the rotary branch.

8. A storage medium according to claim 7,

wherein it is decided on the basis of the names of roads entering and departing the rotary branch and the road states before and after the junctions of the roads whether or not a turn is a U-turn.

9. A storage medium according to claim 7, further comprising:

programs for deciding a straight run when the absolute value of an angular difference between the roads entering and departing the rotary branch is within a first predetermined value, or the absolute value of the angular difference between the entry road and the departure road is larger than the first predetermined value and within a second predetermined value and the absolute value of the angle difference of a road junction is within a third predetermined value.

10. A storage medium according to claim 7, further comprising:

programs for deciding right and left turns from an angular displacement including rotary links from the entry road to the departure road.