Navigation device and method

• US 10,175,057 B2
• Filed: 06/22/2010
• Issued: 01/08/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 06/22/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: TomTom Navigation B.V (TomTom NV)
• Original Assignee: TomTom Navigation B.V (TomTom NV)
• Inventors: Geelen, Pieter
• Primary Examiner(s): Ziaeianmehdizadeh, Navid
• Application Number:
  US13/806,234
• Publication Number:
  US 20130218453A1
• Time in Patent Office: 3,122 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3461 Preferred or disfavoured areas, e.g. dangerous zones, toll or emission zones, intersections, manoeuvre types, segments such as motorways, toll roads, ferries
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3626 Details of the output of route guidance instructions traffic control systems for road vehicles involving transmission of navigation instructions to the vehicle G08G1/0968

Abstract

A navigation device that can access map data and avoidance data, the avoidance data including information for identifying undesirable locations, receive location information representing a geographical location and direction of travel in relation to the map data; and establish, based on the location information and map data, whether the geographical location and direction of travel approach a navigation decision point having a plurality of navigation choices, where each navigation choice corresponds to an onward route leaving the navigation decision point; determine, based on the map data and avoidance data, for at least one onward route leaving the navigation decision point, whether the onward route unavoidably includes an undesirable location; and provide result information to the output section based, at least in part, on the determination.

Claims

1. A navigation device, comprising:

a processor, memory, and map data stored within said memory; and

an output section for providing an output responsive to the processor, the output section being an output device or a display device;

the processor having access to map data and avoidance data, the avoidance data including information for identifying undesirable locations based on stored preference information, and

the processor is arranged to, while a user is presently free driving on a route that is unknown to the navigation device, so the navigation device does not have information in advance about the route the user will follow, perform the following operations;

receive location information representing a geographical location and direction of travel of the free driving in relation to the map data;

establish, based on the location information and map data, that the geographical location and direction of travel of the free driving approach a navigation decision point having a plurality of onward routes leaving the navigation decision point that may be taken during the free driving;

determine, based on the map data and avoidance data, that at least one onward route among the plurality of onward routes leaving the navigation decision point unavoidably includes an undesirable location, wherein the at least one onward route unavoidably includes the undesirable location when;

(i) the undesirable location is reached before a next navigation decision point along the at least one onward route;

or (ii) the undesirable location is not reached before a next navigation decision point along the at least one onward route, but all subsequent routes from the next navigation decision point along the at least one onward route unavoidably include an undesirable location;

generate result information based at least in part on the determination; and

output, to the user, via the output section, an indication that, at the next navigation decision point, the at least one onward route unavoidably includes the undesirable location, the indication including an identification of the at least one onward route from among the plurality of onward routes, and the indication being based at least on part on the result information.

2. The navigation device according to claim 1, wherein the processor performs the determination for each onward route from the navigation decision point.

3. The navigation device according to claim 1, wherein the avoidance data identifies as undesirable at least one of toll roads, taxable routes, a congestion charging zone, routes with height restrictions, routes with width restrictions and routes with weight restrictions.

4. The navigation device according to claim 1, wherein the navigation device is arranged to receive time data representative of at least one of a current time or an expected time at which the undesirable location will be reached, and wherein:

the avoidance data is time-dependent, and

the processor performs the determination based, at least in part, on the time data.

5. The navigation device according to claim 4, wherein the processing device investigates whether a degree to which the undesirable location is undesirable will change within a predetermined time period, and at least one of:

a result of this investigation is used in the determination of whether the onward route unavoidably includes the undesirable location, and the result information includes the result of this investigation.

6. The navigation device according to claim 1, wherein at least one of:

routes from a navigation decision point that re-trace an approach to a decision point; and

routes from a navigation decision point that form a closed loop, are not considered by the processor to be onward routes from the decision point when performing the determination.

7. The navigation device according to claim 1, wherein the navigation device includes a positioning device, the positioning device arranged to determine the location information, the location information being representative of the geographical location and direction of travel of the positioning device.

8. The navigation device according to claim 1, wherein the navigation decision point is established as being approached when the navigation device is less than a pre-set distance from the navigation decision point.

9. The navigation device according to claim 8, wherein the pre-set distance is based on a road type associated with the navigation decision point.

10. The navigation device according to claim 8, wherein the warning is provided when the navigation device is less than a pre- set distance from the navigation decision point.

11. The navigation device according to claim 1, wherein the indication includes an identified type associated with the undesirable location.

12. The navigation device according to claim 1, wherein determining that all subsequent routes from the next navigation decision point unavoidably include the undesirable location comprises processing each subsequent route through a predetermined number of navigation decision points after the next navigation decision point to determine whether an undesirable location is reached on that subsequent route.

13. A machine-implemented navigation method comprising:

while a user is presently free driving on a route that is unknown to the navigation device, so the navigation device does not have information in advance about the route the user will follow, performing the following operations;

receiving location information representing a geographical location and direction of travel of the free driving;

establishing, based on the location information and map data including a plurality of navigation decision points, that the geographical location and direction of travel of the free driving approaches a navigation decision point having a plurality of onward routes leaving the navigation decision point;

accessing, by the machine, information for identifying undesirable locations based on stored preference information;

determining, by the machine, based on the information for identifying undesirable locations, that at least one onward route among the plurality of onward routes leaving the navigation decision point unavoidably includes an undesirable location, wherein the at least one onward route unavoidably includes the undesirable location when;

(i) the undesirable location is reached before a next navigation decision point along the at least one onward route;

or (ii) the undesirable location is not reached before a next navigation decision point along the at least one onward route, but all subsequent routes from the next navigation decision point along the at least one onward route unavoidably include an undesirable location;

providing, by the machine, result information responsive to the determination; and

outputting, via an output section of the machine, to the user, an indication that, at the next navigation decision point, the at least one onward route unavoidably includes the undesirable location, the indication including an identification of the at least one onward route from among the plurality of onward routes, and the indication being based at least on part on the result information.

14. The method according to claim 13, wherein the indication includes an identified type associated with the undesirable location.

15. A non-transitory computer-readable medium which stores a set of instructions which when executed performs a navigation method for, the method executed by the set of instructions comprising:

while a user is presently free driving on a route that is unknown to the navigation device, so the navigation device does not have information in advance about the route the user will follow, performing the following operations;

receiving location information representing a geographical location and direction of travel of the free driving;

establishing, based on the location information and map data including a plurality of navigation decision points, that the geographical location and direction of travel of the free driving approaches a navigation decision point having a plurality of onward routes leaving the navigation decision point;

accessing information for identifying undesirable locations based on stored preference information;

determining based on the information for identifying undesirable locations, that at least one onward route among the plurality of onward routes leaving the navigation decision point unavoidably includes an undesirable location, wherein the at least one onward route unavoidably include the undesirable location when;

(i) the undesirable location is reached before a next navigation decision point along the at least one onward route;

or (ii) the undesirable location is not reached before a next navigation decision point along the at least one onward route, but all subsequent routes from the next navigation decision point along the at least one onward route unavoidably include an undesirable location;

providing result information responsive to the determination; and

outputting, via an output section, to the user, an indication that, at the next navigation decision point, the at least one onward route unavoidably includes the undesirable location, the indication including an identification of the at least one onward route from among the plurality of onward routes, and the indication being based at least on part on the result information.

16. The computer-readable medium according to claim 15, wherein the indication includes an identified type associated with the undesirable location.