On-vehicle navigation system

• US 20020111738A1
• Filed: 02/13/2002
• Published: 08/15/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 02/14/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Company Limited (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Company Limited (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: Nakano, Nobuyuki, Iwami, Ryotaro
• Granted Patent: US 6,778,904 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 701/211
• 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
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3644 Landmark guidance, e.g. using POIs or conspicuous other objects

Abstract

Provided is a turn-by-turn on-vehicle navigation system capable of providing drivers with any helpful and appropriate information to free them from their various anxieties caused as a result of relatively less information on a display. When the vehicle'"'"'s current position is located on a recommended route after completion of a certain guidance S203, S205, the driver is determined as properly driving the vehicle as expected, and receives a message telling that he/she is on the right track S206. With such a message, the driver does not feel an anxiety often occurring at making a turn at the intersection. Further, when the vehicle passes by a predetermined landmark located in a close range, any supplemental information is provided for the location S210. Such information removes the driver'"'"'s uneasiness when he/she keeps going straight along the same road for a long time. Still further, at the destination, information about the area is provided S211. Thereby, the driver can feel secure even he/she is new to the area.

Claims

1. An on-vehicle navigation system which provides guidance not with map display but simply with one or more characters and/or one or more symbols, said system comprising:

a data storage section for storing map data;

an input section through which a destination is inputted;

a position detection section for detecting a current position of a vehicle;

a route search section for finding a recommended route from said current position to said destination using said map data;

a guidance data generation section for generating, from said map data and said recommended route, guidance data needed for the guidance;

a guidance section for providing the guidance in a manner based on said guidance data and said current position; and

an output section for making a display output and/or a sound output about the guidance provided by said guidance section, wherein

when the current position of the vehicle is on said recommended route after passing a guidance point, said guidance section provides a message telling that the vehicle is driving properly.

4. The on-vehicle navigation system according to claim 1, wherein

said guidance section provides the message telling that the vehicle is driving properly by referring to a satisfaction level based on a proximity factor derived from distances from the current position of the vehicle to said recommended route, and to another route closer thereto.

5. The on-vehicle navigation system according to claim 1, wherein

said guidance data generation section generates the guidance data including area information corresponding to a predetermined point in the vicinity of said recommended route together with guidance information needed for the guidance, and

when the vehicle passes by said predetermined point, said guidance section further provides the guidance in a manner based on said area information.

6. The on-vehicle navigation system according to claim 1, wherein

said guidance data generation section generates the guidance data including predetermined destination information about said destination and therearound together with guidance information needed for the guidance, and

when the vehicle reaches said destination, said guidance section further provides the guidance in a manner based on said destination information.

7. The on-vehicle navigation system according to claim 1, wherein

said guidance data generation section generates the guidance data including area information corresponding to the predetermined point in the vicinity of said recommended route, and predetermined destination information about said destination and therearound together with guidance information needed for the guidance, and

said guidance section further provides the guidance in a manner based on said area information when the vehicle passes by said predetermined point, and the guidance in a manner based on said destination information when the vehicle reaches said destination.

2. An on-vehicle navigation system which provides guidance not with map display but simply with one or more characters and/or one or more symbols, said system comprising:

a data storage section for storing map data;

an input section through which a destination is inputted;

a position detection section for detecting a current position of a vehicle;

a route search section for finding a recommended route from said current position to said destination using said map data;

a guidance data generation section for generating, from said map data and said recommended route, guidance data composed of guidance information needed for the guidance, and area information corresponding to a predetermined point in the vicinity of said recommended route;

a guidance section for providing the guidance in a manner based on said guidance data and said current position; and

an output section for making a display output and/or a sound output about the guidance provided by said guidance section, wherein

said guidance section provides the guidance according to said area information when the vehicle passes by said predetermined point.

3. An on-vehicle navigation system which provides guidance not with map display but simply with one or more characters and/or one or more symbols, said system comprising:

a data storage section for storing map data;

an input section through which a destination is inputted;

a position detection section for detecting a current position of a vehicle;

a route search section for finding a recommended route from said current position to said destination using said map data;

a guidance data generation section for generating, from said map data and said recommended route, guidance data composed of guidance information needed for the guidance, and predetermined destination information about said destination and therearound;

a guidance section for providing the guidance in a manner based on said guidance data and said current position; and

an output section for making a display output and/or a sound output about the guidance provided by said guidance section, wherein

said guidance section provides the guidance according to said destination information when the vehicle reaches said destination.