Travel history editing device

• US 8,781,728 B2
• Filed: 10/22/2007
• Issued: 07/15/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 10/26/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Panasonic Corporation (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Panasonic Corporation (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: Yoshioka, Mototaka, Ozawa, Jun, Kudoh, Takahiro
• Primary Examiner(s): SEOH, MINNAH L
• Application Number:
  US12/375,345
• Publication Number:
  US 20090312946A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,458 Days
• Field of Search: 701200-226, 701400-444
• US Class Current: 701/424
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/26 specially adapted for navigation in a road network
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096877 where the input to the navigation device is provided by a suitable I/O arrangement details of I/O arrangements for onboard navigation computers G01C21/36; I/O arrangements for general purpose computers G06F3/00

Abstract

A travel history editing device including: a position information detecting unit detecting position information of a vehicle; a map information accumulation unit accumulating pre-registered position information and name information; and an arrival point name providing unit, (i) reading out a name of a facility, and providing the read name as the arrival point when the arrival point corresponds to a position of the facility, and (ii) reading out other name information from the map information accumulation unit, and providing the other name information when the arrival point does not correspond to the position of the facility. Further the device includes an arrival point history accumulation unit accumulating an arrival point corresponding to the facility and the name; and a name editing unit editing the name of the arrival point for which the other name is provided as the name of the facility accumulated in the arrival point history accumulation unit.

Claims

1. A travel history editing device editing name information of position information accumulated as a history of a travel route of a vehicle, said travel history editing device comprising:

a position detecting unit configured to detect the position information corresponding to a position of the vehicle;

a map information accumulation unit accumulating the name information related to one of the position information and a facility name corresponding to the position information, the facility name differing from the name information;

an arrival point name determining unit configured to, when the vehicle arrives at an arrival point, (i) determine, as position information of the arrival point, the position information detected by said position detecting unit, and (ii) obtain the facility name that corresponds to the position information of the arrival point from said map information accumulation unit and determine the obtained facility name to be a facility name of the arrival point, or obtain the name information that relates to the position information of the arrival point from said map information accumulation unit and determine the obtained name information to be name information of the arrival point;

a travel history accumulation unit accumulating (i) the position information of the arrival point, (ii) the determined facility name of the arrival point, and (iii) the determined name information of the arrival point; and

a name editing unit configured to, when the name information of the arrival point is accumulated in said travel history accumulation unit, edit the name information of the arrival point to the facility name of the arrival point accumulated in said travel history accumulating unit, such that the edited name information of the arrival point is represented by a facility name previously visited by a user, and such that the name information of the arrival point is edited in accordance with a predetermined rule.

2. The travel history editing device according to claim 1,

wherein said arrival point name determining unit is configured to determine that the vehicle arrives at the arrival point when an engine of the vehicle shuts down.

3. The travel history editing device according to claim 1,

wherein said arrival point name determining unit is configured to (i) search said map information accumulation unit for a facility located within a first distance from the position information of the arrival point, and (ii), when the facility is located within the first distance, determine a name of the located facility to be the facility name of the arrival point.

4. The travel history editing device according to claim 3,

wherein said name editing unit is configured to (i) select the name information of the arrival point accumulated in said travel history accumulating unit, (ii) search said travel history accumulation unit for the facility name of the arrival point found within a second distance, which is greater than the first distance, from the selected name information of the arrival point, and (iii), when the facility name of the arrival point is located within the second distance, edit the selected name information of the arrival point to the name of the located facility.

5. The travel history editing device according to claim 1, further comprising an editing rule accumulation unit accumulating the predetermined rule.

6. The travel history editing device according to claim 5,

wherein said travel history accumulation unit accumulates a time and a date when the vehicle arrives at the arrival point, in addition to the determined facility name of the arrival point and the determined name information of the arrival point, and

wherein said name editing unit is configured to edit the name information of the arrival point accumulated in said travel history accumulating unit to the facility name of the arrival point, when the facility name of the arrival point and the name information of the arrival point, which are accumulated in said travel history accumulation unit, satisfy the predetermined rule that describes (i) a first condition which stipulates that a date of arrival at an arrival point accumulated under a facility name differs from a date of arrival at the arrival point accumulated under name information, and (ii) a second condition which stipulates that, when a time zone is classified into a day of a week and time windows in the day of the week, a time of arrival at an arrival point accumulated under a facility name is in a same class of a time of arrival at an arrival point accumulated under name information.

7. The travel history editing device according to claim 6,

wherein the day of the week is classified into a weekday and a weekend, and

wherein the time windows are classified into morning, afternoon and night.

8. The travel history editing device according to claim 6, wherein, when said travel history accumulation unit accumulates a plurality of the facility names of the arrival point, which satisfies both the first condition and the second condition, said name editing unit is further configured to edit the name information of the arrival point to a facility name of the arrival point that is closer to the position information which relates to the name information of the arrival point.

9. The travel history editing device according to claim 1, wherein said name editing unit is configured to edit the name information of the arrival point only when the name information of the arrival point accumulated in said travel history accumulation unit is a parking lot.

10. The travel history editing device according to claim 4,

wherein, when a facility corresponding to the facility name of the arrival point located within the second distance has a parking lot, said name editing unit is configured to (i) detect whether or not the parking lot is full when the selected name information of the arrival point is provided as the arrival point, and only when a result of detection indicates that the parking lot is full, and (ii) edit the selected name information of the arrival point to the facility name of the arrival point.

11. The travel history editing device according to claim 4, further comprising:

a parking lot information accumulation unit obtaining and accumulating, via a communication network, full-vacant information indicating whether a parking lot of a facility nearby the arrival point is full or vacant; and

a change of arrival point intention estimating unit configured to (i) check said parking lot information accumulation unit for the full-vacant information for the parking lot of the facility corresponding to the located facility name of the arrival point, (ii) determine that the vehicle cannot park at the parking lot of the facility corresponding to the located facility name of the arrival point when the parking lot is full and when the selected name information of the arrival point is provided as the arrival point, and (iii) determine that the facility corresponding to the located facility name of the arrival point is not the arrival point when the parking lot is vacant and when the selected name information of the arrival point is provided as the arrival point,

wherein, when said change of arrival point intention estimating unit determines that the vehicle cannot park at the parking lot of the facility corresponding to the located facility name of the arrival point, said name editing unit is configured to edit the selected name information of the arrival point to the located facility name of the arrival point.

12. The travel history editing device according to claim 6, wherein, when said travel history accumulation unit accumulates a plurality of the facility names of the arrival point, which satisfies both the first condition and the second condition, said name editing unit is configured to (i) weigh the facility names of the arrival point based on a distance between position information related to the name information of the arrival point and position information related to the facility name of the arrival point, and (ii) accumulate, in said travel history accumulation unit, the weighted facility names as candidates for the facility name of the arrival point used for editing the name information of the arrival point.

13. The travel history editing device according to claim 6, wherein, when said travel history accumulation unit does not accumulate the facility name of the arrival point located within the second distance, said name editing unit is configured to (i) select, from said map information accumulation unit, a facility name of a facility found within the second distance from an arriving point in the name information of the arriving point, and (ii) accumulate, as a neighboring facility name, the selected facility name in said travel history accumulation unit.

14. The travel history editing device according to claim 1,

wherein said map information accumulation unit further accumulates route information indicating a range of a route,

wherein said travel history editing device further includes a deviation point detecting unit configured to detect a point at which the vehicle detected by said position detecting unit either deviates from the range of the route indicated in the route information or returns to the route from out of the route,

wherein said travel history accumulation unit accumulates a deviation point or a returning point, along with the position information of the arrival point and the facility name of the arrival point or the position information of the arrival point and the name information of the arrival point, and

wherein said name editing unit is configured to edit the name information of the arrival point to the facility name of the arrival point when either the deviation point or the returning point which comes along with the name information of the arrival point is located within a predetermined range from either the deviation point or the returning point which comes along with the facility name of the arrival point.

15. The travel history editing device according to claim 14,

wherein the route information accumulated in said map information accumulation unit includes route width information indicating a width of the route, and

wherein said deviation point detecting unit regards position information out of the route width as the deviation point when the detected position information of the vehicle is detected as the position information out of the route width.

16. The travel history editing device according to claim 15, wherein said deviation point detecting unit regards the position information out of the route width as the deviation point when the position information of the vehicle detected by the position information detecting unit is detected a plurality of consecutive times as the position information out of the route width.

17. A history editing method of using a device for editing name information of position information accumulated as a history of a travel route of a vehicle,

wherein the device includes a map information accumulation unit accumulating the name information related to one of the position information and a facility name corresponding to the position information, the facility name differing from the name information, and

wherein said history editing method includes:

detecting, via a position detecting unit, the position information corresponding to a position of the vehicle;

when the vehicle arrives at an arrival point, (i) determining, as position information of the arrival point, the position information detected by the position detecting unit, and (ii) obtaining the facility name that corresponds to the position information of the arrival point from the map information accumulation unit and determining the obtained facility name to be a facility name of the arrival point, or obtaining the name information that relates to the position information of the arrival point from the map information accumulation unit and determining the obtained name information to be name information of the arrival point;

accumulating, via a travel history accumulation unit, (i) the position information of the arrival point, (ii) the determined facility name of the arrival point, and (iii) the determined name information of the arrival point; and

when the name information of the arrival point is accumulated in the travel history accumulation unit, editing, via a name editing unit, the name information of the arrival point to the facility name of the arrival point accumulated in the travel history accumulating unit, such that the edited name information of the arrival point is represented by a facility name previously visited by a user, and such that the name information of the arrival point is edited in accordance with a predetermined rule.

18. A non-transitory computer-readable recording medium having a computer program recorded thereon, the computer program being for a travel history editing device including a map information accumulation unit, and editing name information of position information accumulated as a history of a travel route of a vehicle, the map information accumulation unit accumulating the name information related to one of the position information and a facility name corresponding to the position information, the facility name differing from the name information comprising:

detecting position information corresponding to a position of the vehicle;

when the vehicle arrives at an arrival point;

determining, as position information of the arrival point, the position information detected by said detecting of the position information; and

obtaining the facility name that corresponds to the position information of the arrival point from the map information accumulation unit and determining the obtained facility name to be a facility name of the arrival point, or obtaining the name information that relates to the position information of the arrival point from the map information accumulation unit and determining the obtained name information to be name information of the arrival point;

accumulating (i) the position information of the arrival point, (ii) the determined facility name of the arrival point, and (iii) the determined name information of the arrival point; and

when the name information of the arrival point is accumulated, editing the name information of the arrival point to the facility name of the arrival point accumulated in said accumulating, such that the edited name information of the arrival point is represented by a facility name previously visited by a user, and such that the name information of the arrival point is edited in accordance with a predetermined rule.

19. A car navigation device, comprising:

a processor;

a Global Positioning System (GPS) detecting position information corresponding to a position of a vehicle;

a first storing unit accumulating name information related to one of the position information and a facility name corresponding to the position information, the facility name differing from the name information;

a second storing unit storing a program that, when executed by said processor, causes said processor to execute;

when the vehicle arrives at an arrival point, (i) determining, as position information of the arrival point, the position information detected by said GPS, and (ii) obtaining the facility name that corresponds to the position information of the arrival point from said first storing unit and determining the obtained facility name to be a facility name of the arrival point, or obtaining the name information that relates to the position information of the arrival point from said first storing unit and determining the obtained name information to be name information of the arrival point;

accumulating, via said second storing unit, (i) the position information of the arrival point, (ii) the determined facility name of the arrival point, and (iii) the determined name information of the arrival point; and

when the name information of the arrival point is accumulated in said second storing unit, editing, via a name editing unit, the name information of the arrival point to the facility name of the arrival point accumulated in said second storing unit, such that the edited name information of the arrival point is represented by a facility name previously visited by a user, and such that the name information of the arrival point is edited in accordance with a predetermined rule.