Map information processing apparatus

• US 8,483,953 B2
• Filed: 01/18/2008
• Issued: 07/09/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 04/09/2007
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Mitsubishi Electric Corporation
• Original Assignee: Mitsubishi Electric Corporation
• Inventors: Umezu, Masaharu, Kohno, Atsushi, Matsutani, Kiyoshi, Ikeuchi, Tomoya, Mikuriya, Makoto, Nakae, Tomohiro, Kodaka, Yasushi
• Primary Examiner(s): Tran, Khoi
• Assistant Examiner(s): Holwerda, Stephen
• Application Number:
  US12/595,143
• Publication Number:
  US 20100063727A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,999 Days
• Field of Search: 701/409, 701/410, 701/411, 701/414, 701/417, 701/424, 701/425, 701/430, 701/450, 701/461, 701/532, 701/533, 707/E17.018
• US Class Current: 701/424
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3815 Road data
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3844 Data obtained from position sensors only, e.g. from inertial navigation
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096827 where the route is computed onboard
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/0969 having a display in the form of a map
• CPC Class Codes: G09B 29/106 using electronic means

Abstract

A map information processing apparatus is disclosed. The apparatus includes a processor for calculating a vehicle position; a data generation unit for generating traveling locus data on the basis of the calculated vehicle position when the vehicle position deviates from a road; a registration unit for registering the traveling locus data generated by the data generation unit in a temporarily registered road list as a temporarily registered road; an operation unit for selecting one of temporarily registered roads registered in the temporarily registered road list; and an official registration unit for registering the selected temporarily registered road in an officially registered road list as an officially registered road in accordance with an instruction from the operation unit, generating road data on the basis of traveling locus data relating to the temporarily registered road, and adding the generated road data to a map data stored in a map data storage unit.

Claims

1. A map information processing apparatus comprising:

a map data storage unit configured to store map data;

a processor configured to calculate a vehicle position;

a traveling locus data generation unit configured to generate traveling locus data on the basis of said vehicle position calculated by said processor when said vehicle position deviates from a road indicated by road data that are included in said map data read from said map data storage unit;

a temporary registration unit configured to register said traveling locus data generated by said traveling locus data generation unit in a temporarily registered road list as a temporarily registered road, wherein said temporarily registered road list includes a plurality of temporarily registered roads;

an operation unit configured to select one of said temporarily registered roads registered in said temporarily registered road list by said temporary registration unit; and

an official registration unit configured to register said temporarily registered road selected by said operation unit in an officially registered road list as an officially registered road in accordance with an instruction from said operation unit, wherein said instruction comprises;

instructing said temporary registration unit to transmit a predetermined part of said selected temporarily registered road to said traveling locus data generation unit, and

instructing said traveling locus data generation unit to generate traveling locus data relating to said predetermined part of said temporarily registered road and to transmit said generated traveling locus data to said official registration unit,

wherein and said official registration unit generates road data on the basis of said generated traveling locus data relating to said predetermined part of said selected temporarily registered road, and adding said generated road data to said map data stored in said map data storage unit.

2. The map information processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a display unit, wherein

when said temporary registration unit has registered said temporarily registered road in said temporarily registered road list, said temporary registration unit causes said display unit to display said registered temporarily registered road together with a message indicating that registration of said temporarily registered road is complete.

3. The map information processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a display unit, wherein

said processor calculates said vehicle position on the basis of a signal received by a GPS receiver, and

when said temporary registration unit has registered said temporarily registered road in said temporarily registered road list, said temporary registration unit causes said display unit to display said registered temporarily registered road and a reliability value corresponding to a reception condition of said GPS receiver.

4. The map information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said temporary registration unit corrects a shape of said temporarily registered road registered in said temporarily registered road list in accordance with an instruction from said operation unit.

5. The map information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said temporary registration unit sets or modifies attributes of said temporarily registered road registered in said temporarily registered road list in accordance with an instruction from said operation unit.

6. The map information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein when said official registration unit registers said temporarily registered road in said officially registered road list as an officially registered road, said official registration unit sets attributes of said officially registered road in accordance with an instruction from said operation unit, generates road data on the basis of said traveling locus data and said set attribute of said registered officially registered road, and adds said generated road data to said map data stored in said map data storage unit.

7. The map information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein in accordance with an instruction from said operation unit, said official registration unit sets or modifies attributes of an officially registered road registered in said officially registered road list and set or modifies attributes of road data in said map data storage unit corresponding to said officially registered road.

8. The map information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein in accordance with an instruction from said operation unit, said official registration unit returns an officially registered road selected by said operation unit to said temporarily registered road list as a temporarily registered road and deletes map data corresponding to said selected officially registered road from said map data storage unit.

9. The map information processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a map data comparison unit for comparing said traveling locus data generated by said traveling locus data generation unit with traveling locus data of a temporarily registered road registered in said temporarily registered road list, wherein

when a comparison result generated by said map data comparison unit indicates a match, said temporary registration unit corrects said traveling locus data of said temporarily registered road registered in said temporarily registered road list, using said traveling locus data generated by said traveling locus data generation unit.

10. The map information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said temporary registration unit registers said traveling locus data generated by said traveling locus data generation unit as a result of travel on a temporarily registered road registered in said temporarily registered road list in said temporarily registered road list as an identical temporarily registered road, and

in accordance with an instruction from said operation unit, said official registration unit registers one of identical temporarily registered roads selected by said operation unit in said officially registered road list as an officially registered road, generates road data on the basis of said traveling locus data of said selected temporarily registered road, and adds said generated road data to said map data stored in said map data storage unit.

11. The map information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein in accordance with an instruction from said operation unit, said traveling locus data generation unit sets an area in which temporary registration is prohibited on a map illustrated by map data read from said map data storage unit, and generates said traveling locus data on the basis of said vehicle position calculated by said processor when said vehicle position deviates from a road indicated by road data that are included in said map data read from said map data storage unit and remains outside of said set area in which temporary registration is prohibited.

12. The map information processing apparatus according to claim 11, wherein said temporary registration unit selects one of said temporarily registered roads registered in said temporarily registered road list in accordance with an instruction from said operation unit, and

said traveling locus data generation unit sets said area in which temporary registration is prohibited on the basis of coordinates of traveling locus data relating to said temporarily registered road selected by said temporary registration unit.

13. The map information processing apparatus according to claim 11, wherein said temporary registration unit selects one of said temporarily registered roads registered in said temporarily registered road list in accordance with an instruction from said operation unit and deletes said selected temporarily registered road after said area in which temporary registration is prohibited has been set, and

said traveling locus data generation unit sets said area in which temporary registration is prohibited on the basis of coordinates of traveling locus data of said temporarily registered road selected by said temporary registration unit.

14. The map information processing apparatus according to claim 11, wherein said official registration unit selects one of said officially registered roads registered in said officially registered road list in accordance with an instruction from said operation unit, and after said area in which temporary registration is prohibited has been set, deletes said selected officially registered road and deletes road data corresponding to said officially registered road from said map data stored in said map data storage unit, and

said traveling locus data generation unit sets said area in which temporary registration is prohibited on the basis of coordinates of traveling locus data of said officially registered road selected by said official registration unit.

15. The map information processing apparatus according to claim 11, further comprising a temporary registration prohibited area list indicating a list of said areas in which temporary registration is prohibited, wherein

in accordance with an instruction from said operation unit, said traveling locus data generation unit cancels a setting of an area in which temporary registration is prohibited selected in said temporary registration prohibited area list.

16. The map information processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a map data updating unit for updating said map data stored in said map data storage unit periodically after an officially registered road has been returned to said temporarily registered road list as a temporarily registered road by said official registration unit.

17. The map information processing apparatus according to claim 16, wherein said official registration unit adds a temporarily registered road that does not exist in said map data updated by said map data updating unit to said map data stored in said map data storage unit as road data relating to an officially registered road.

18. The map information processing apparatus according to claim 16, wherein said temporary registration unit extracts a temporarily registered road from said temporarily registered road list and transmits said extracted temporarily registered road to said official registration unit, and

when said temporarily registered road received from said temporary registration unit does not exist in said map data updated by said map data updating unit, said official registration unit registers said temporarily registered road in an official registration candidate list as an official registration candidate, extracts an official registration candidate from said official registration candidate list in accordance with an instruction from said operation unit, registers said extracted official registration candidate in said officially registered road list as an officially registered road, generates road data on the basis of traveling locus data relating to said official registration candidate extracted from said official registration candidate list, and adds said generated road data to said map data stored in said map data storage unit.