Notification apparatus for vehicle

• US 8,836,537 B2
• Filed: 02/11/2013
• Issued: 09/16/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 03/16/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: DENSO Corporation
• Original Assignee: DENSO Corporation
• Inventors: Ogura, Nobuhiro, Ijima, Ryoichi
• Primary Examiner(s): PHAM, TOAN NGOC
• Application Number:
  US13/763,828
• Publication Number:
  US 20130241748A1
• Time in Patent Office: 582 Days
• Field of Search: 340/905, 340/933, 340/937, 340/995.1, 701/408, 701/468, 701/533
• US Class Current: 340/905
• 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 1/09626 where the origin of the information is within the own vehicle, e.g. a local storage device, digital map
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/0967 Systems involving transmission of highway information, e.g. weather, speed limits transmission of navigation instructions to the vehicle G08G1/0968

Abstract

A notification apparatus for notifying a passenger in a vehicle of existence of a specific object disposed on a road includes: an information obtaining device that obtains positional information indicative of a position of each specific object and angle information indicative of a direction of each specific object; a candidate retrieving device that: sets an inclusive region including a driving schedule route; and retrieves one specific object in the inclusive region as a notification object candidate; a first eliminating device that eliminates the one specific object from the notification object candidate when the one specific object does not correspond to a driving direction; and a second eliminating device that eliminates the one specific object from the notification object candidate when the one specific object is not disposed on the driving schedule route.

Claims

1. A notification apparatus for notifying a passenger in a vehicle of existence of a specific object disposed on a road, the apparatus comprising:

an information obtaining device that obtains information about a plurality of specific objects, the information including positional information indicative of a position of each specific object and angle information indicative of a direction of each specific object;

a candidate retrieving device that;

sets an inclusive region including a driving schedule route of the vehicle, which is specified by map data; and

retrieves one of the specific objects in the inclusive region as a notification object candidate, according to the positional information;

a first eliminating device that eliminates the one of the specific objects from the notification object candidate according to the angle information when the one of the specific objects does not correspond to a driving direction of the vehicle; and

a second eliminating device that eliminates the one of the specific objects from the notification object candidate according to the positional information when the one of the specific objects is not disposed on the driving schedule route.

2. The notification apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein the candidate retrieving device divides the driving schedule route into a plurality of partial routes,

wherein the candidate retrieving device sets each partial region, which includes one of the partial routes,

wherein the candidate retrieving device specifies one of the partial regions as the inclusive region, and

wherein the candidate retrieving device retrieves the one of the specific objects arranged in the one of the partial regions as the notification object candidate.

3. The notification apparatus according to claim 2,

wherein the candidate retrieving device changes dimensions of each partial region according to road attribution information of the partial route.

4. The notification apparatus according to claim 2,

wherein the second eliminating device determines that the one of the specific objects is not disposed on the driving schedule route when a distance between the one of the specific objects and the one of the partial routes exceeds a predetermined value.

5. The notification apparatus according to claim 2,

wherein the first eliminating device determines that the one of the specific objects does not corresponding to the driving direction when the direction of the one of the specific objects is not disposed within a predetermined angle range, and

wherein the predetermined angle range is set according to the driving direction of the vehicle disposed on the one of the partial routes.

6. The notification apparatus according to claim 5,

wherein the first eliminating device specifies the driving direction to be equal to a direction from an entrance point to an exit point of the one of the partial routes.

7. The notification apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising:

a waiting device,

wherein the partial routes includes a first partial route and a second partial route, which are continuously connected to each other,

wherein the waiting device waits for a predetermined time interval after the notification apparatus completes to search a notification object in the first partial route and before the notification apparatus starts to search the notification object in the second partial route.

8. The notification apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein the second eliminating device eliminates the one of the specific objects, not disposed on the driving schedule route, from the notification object candidate after the first eliminating device eliminates the one of the specific objects, not corresponding to the driving direction, from the notification object candidate.

9. The notification apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein the first eliminating device eliminates the one of the specific objects, not corresponding to the driving direction, from the notification object candidate after the second eliminating device eliminates the one of the specific objects, not disposed on the driving schedule route, from the notification object candidate.

10. The notification apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein the specific objects are speed cameras.