In-vehicle traffic information notification device

• US 9,396,654 B2
• Filed: 07/17/2012
• Issued: 07/19/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 07/17/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Mitsubishi Electric Corporation
• Original Assignee: Mitsubishi Electric Corporation
• Inventors: Yoshioka, Shotaro, Oi, Makoto, Shimotani, Mitsuo
• Primary Examiner(s): Tran, Dalena
• Application Number:
  US14/410,534
• Publication Number:
  US 20150243166A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,463 Days
• Field of Search: 701/117, 701/423, 701/424, 701/414, 340/905, 340/988, 340/907, 340/995.13
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3484 Personalized, e.g. from learned user behaviour or user-defined profiles
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/367 Details, e.g. road map scale, orientation, zooming, illumination, level of detail, scrolling of road map or positioning of current position marker
• 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: G08G 1/0112 from the vehicle, e.g. floating car data [FCD]
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/0129 for creating historical data or processing based on historical data
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/091 Traffic information broadcasting broadcasting communication H04H
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/0962 having an indicator mounted inside the vehicle, e.g. giving voice messages
• 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 1/096716 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 1/096775 where the origin of the information is a central station

Abstract

An object of the present invention is to provide an in-vehicle traffic information notification device which, even when it is difficult to specify a traveling route of an own car, can notify adequate traffic information to users. A passage probability calculator of the traffic information notification device calculates a passage probability which is a probability that the own car passes an occurrence position of each traffic hazard obtained by a traffic information receiver, based on a current position of the own car detected by a current position detector and traveling history data stored in a traveling history data storage. A display unit and a sound output unit notify occurrence information of the traffic hazard to the user by a mode corresponding to the passage probability of the traffic hazard.

Claims

1. An in-vehicle traffic information notification device comprising:

a current position detector that detects a current position of an own car;

a traveling history data storage that stores traveling history data of said own car;

a traffic information receiver that obtains traffic information including an occurrence position of a traffic hazard;

a passage probability calculator that calculates a passage probability that is a probability that said own car passes an occurrence position of each traffic hazard, from the current position and the traveling history data of said own car; and

a traffic hazard notifier that notifies occurrence information of each traffic hazard to a user by a different output mode according to the passage probability of the traffic hazard, wherein the different output modes are either visually or audibly different from each other.

2. The in-vehicle traffic information notification device according to claim 1, wherein, when there is a plurality of occurrence positions of traffic hazards, said traffic hazard notifier notifies occurrence information of the traffic hazards in order of higher passage probabilities.

3. The in-vehicle traffic information notification device according to claim 2, wherein said traffic hazard notifier includes a display unit that arranges the occurrence information of the traffic hazards in order of the higher passage probabilities and displays the occurrence information.

4. The in-vehicle traffic information notification device according to claim 2, wherein said traffic hazard notifier includes a sound output unit that audibly outputs the occurrence information of the traffic hazards in order of the higher passage probabilities.

5. The in-vehicle traffic information notification device according to claim 1, wherein said traffic hazard notifier includes a display unit that displays the occurrence information of the traffic hazard by a different display mode according to the passage probability of the traffic hazard.

6. The in-vehicle traffic information notification device according to claim 1, wherein said traffic hazard notifier includes a sound output unit that audibly outputs the occurrence information of the traffic hazard at a different frequency according to the passage probability of the traffic hazard.

7. The in-vehicle traffic information notification device according to claim 1, wherein said traffic hazard notifier includes a map information display unit that displays the occurrence position of the traffic hazard on a map by a different display mode according to the passage probability of the traffic hazard.

8. The in-vehicle traffic information notification device according to claim 7, wherein said map information display unit displays a symbol that represents the occurrence position of the traffic hazard, with a different color, size or change pattern according to the passage probability of the traffic hazard.

9. The in-vehicle traffic information notification device according to claim 8, wherein said map information display unit displays a road to which the occurrence position of the traffic congestion belongs, with a different color, thickness or change pattern according to the passage probability of the traffic hazard.

10. The in-vehicle traffic information notification device according to claim 7, wherein said map information display unit displays a route from the current position of said own car to the occurrence position of the traffic hazard, by a different display mode according to the passage probability of the traffic hazard.

11. The in-vehicle traffic information notification device according to claim 10, wherein said map information display unit displays the route from the current position of said own car to the occurrence position of the traffic hazard, with a different color, thickness or change pattern according to the passage probability of the traffic hazard.

12. The in-vehicle traffic information notification device according to claim 7, wherein

a predetermined number of routes that said own car is highly likely to pass is specified based on the current position and the traveling history data of said own car, and

when a traffic hazard does not occur in said predetermined number of specified roads, said map information display unit displays the predetermined number of routes by a display mode different from that of another road.

13. The in-vehicle traffic information notification device according to claim 1, wherein

a predetermined number of routes that said own car is highly likely to pass is specified based on the current position and the traveling history data of said own car, and

when a traffic hazard does not occur in said predetermined number of specified roads, said traffic hazard notifier notifies to the user that the traffic hazard does not occur.

14. The in-vehicle traffic information notification device according to claim 1, wherein said passage probability calculator calculates said passage probability every time said own car passes a crossroad.