Method for operating a vehicle's navigation system

Abstract

The invention relates to a method for operating a vehicle navigation system in which routes are generated for route guidance to a navigation destination, taking route criteria into account (S3). The invention provides that at least one safety route generated taking selectable safety-relevant route criteria into account is offered to each user of the navigation system for route guidance (S4) and / or that each user of the navigation system is given a notification of the presence of risk factors for the safety-relevant route criteria on an offered route (S4).

Description

[0001] The invention relates to a method for operating a navigation system of a vehicle according to the preamble of patent claim 1.

[0002] Navigation systems are used in vehicles to assist the driver in traveling to selected navigation destinations. Selected routes are suggested to the driver based on specific route criteria and displayed visually on a suitable display device, allowing the driver to select the most suitable route to the respective navigation destination and initiate route guidance. Common navigation systems in vehicles offer selectable route criteria for the route, particularly fast routes with a short travel time regardless of distance, short routes with a short distance regardless of travel time, and efficient routes with predicted low fuel consumption.In addition, other route criteria can often be selected when planning a route, such as avoiding or preferring certain road classes such as motorways or main roads or avoiding toll sections, etc.

[0003] Regarding route criteria, WO 2022 / 187198 A1 discloses a system for customized risk assessment and safety tracking in the form of a mobile web application or a device-specific application. This system aggregates risk data from a variety of data sources and performs customizable filtering of the data for individuals or groups of people based on specific, user-selected values ​​of the preferred risk level. Examples of risk data include crime statistics such as vehicle thefts, disease outbreaks, weather conditions, utility locations, and the like. The system can provide alerts for individual users or user groups, in particular for route planning from a starting point to a destination.

[0004] Furthermore, DE 10 2011 116 116 B3 discloses a method for providing individual traffic hazard notifications, in which information about a location-specific traffic hazard is recorded and communicated to an affected individual road user. This notification of the location-specific traffic hazard is transmitted via a mobile network to a terminal device assigned to the road user and output via this terminal device.

[0005] Finally, US 10 / 697789 B2 describes a transport management system in which driver logs are maintained with the driving characteristics of drivers operating in a specific region. For each planned trip, the transport management system determines an individualized risk value for the respective driver based on the respective driver's driving characteristics and selects an optimal route based on this value.

[0006] The invention is based on the object of specifying, on the basis of this known prior art, a method for operating a navigation system of a vehicle in which individualized route guidance with advantageous properties is realized.

[0007] This object is achieved according to the invention by a method for operating a navigation system of a vehicle having the features recited in patent claim 1.

[0008] Furthermore, this object is achieved by a navigation system of a vehicle according to patent claim 10.

[0009] Advantageous further developments of the method according to the invention are part of the further patent claims.

[0010] In the method according to the invention for operating a navigation system, the individual safety-relevant preferences of users of the navigation system, in particular the individual safety-relevant preferences of at least one person in the vehicle and preferably the individual safety-relevant preferences of the driver of the vehicle, are used to guide the user to a navigation destination. In addition to the route criteria typically used for route guidance, such as a fast route, a short route, or an economical route, a user of the navigation system, and in particular at least one person in the vehicle, preferably the driver of the vehicle, also has the option of selecting a safety route as a route that is individually tailored to their personal safety preferences through their prior selection of safety-relevant route criteria.If it is not possible to create such a safety route while adhering to the selected safety-relevant preferences with the safety-relevant route criteria, the respective user of the navigation system and in particular at least one person in the vehicle, preferably the driver of the vehicle, will be shown a preventive warning of the possible hazards or risk factors relating to these safety-relevant route criteria along the route at the start of the route guidance.

[0011] This means that the respective user of the navigation system, and in particular at least one person in the vehicle, preferably the driver of the vehicle, is offered at least one safety route for route guidance, individually tailored to the respective person and generated taking into account pre-selectable safety-relevant route criteria. Additionally or alternatively, the respective user of the navigation system, and in particular at least one person in the vehicle, preferably the driver of the vehicle, is given an indication of the presence of risk factors for the individually selected safety-relevant route criteria on a route offered for selection.The respective user of the navigation system, and in particular at least one person in the vehicle, preferably the driver, can thus be individually and additionally or alternatively shown the potential risks and danger spots along a route. This is preferably the case when it is not possible to create a safety route that complies with the safety-relevant route criteria.

[0012] As a result, the driver of the vehicle, as the respective user of the navigation system, can, when guided to a navigation destination by selecting the safety route, also accept a detour to the navigation destination or a longer journey time to the navigation destination if the safety route to the navigation destination fully or largely corresponds to the safety-relevant preferences selected by him.

[0013] Preferably, the safety-relevant route criteria for the safety route are the road surface condition of a route due to weather influences and / or the road surface layout of a route and / or accident statistics on a route. Risk factors for the safety-relevant route criteria can include, in particular, a weather-related impaired road surface condition with regard to aquaplaning, wetness, black ice, fog, or snow and / or a road surface layout with hazardous spots with regard to roads with sharp bends or narrow carriageways or roads with steep gradients or steep inclines or roads without structural separation from oncoming traffic and / or a high accident frequency on the route with regard to road sections with accident hotspots or accident blackspots.

[0014] Thus, the safety-related wishes of each user of the navigation system are taken into account individually and, in particular, the safety-related wishes of at least one person in the vehicle, preferably the driver of the vehicle, are taken into account, for example with regard to avoiding journeys on wet or icy roads or journeys in foggy, rainy or snowy areas or journeys on roads with particularly sharp bends or particularly narrow lanes.

[0015] In a preferred development of the invention, a respective user of the navigation system can create their personal, individual safety profile based on a selection from a selection list containing predefined safety-relevant route criteria. This can be done, in particular, in a separate application program available as an app on an electronic device, for example, on a mobile electronic device such as a smartphone, or in the vehicle's navigation system itself. For this purpose, the corresponding safety-relevant route criteria and / or the risk factors for the safety-relevant route criteria can be provided and displayed to a respective user of the navigation system in a selection list.This selected personal and individual safety profile is then used to generate a safety route for destination guidance and / or to provide information on the presence of risk factors for the safety-relevant route criteria.

[0016] In a further advantageous development of the invention, information about the said safety-relevant route criteria of a route, such as road surface conditions of a route due to weather influences and / or road surface course of a route and / or accident statistics on a route and / or about existing risk factors for the said safety-relevant route criteria, is made available to the navigation system by means of communication with a central unit and / or by means of communication with other road users and can then be output accordingly by the navigation system.This information, such as the road layout, weather conditions or adverse weather conditions, or potential accident hotspots, can thus be centrally generated and output via a connection to databases or via direct V2X (vehicle-to-everything) communication, particularly to other vehicles in the vicinity of the vehicle. In particular, this displays the safety-relevant route criteria along the route and / or the risk factors for the safety-relevant route criteria along the route to the respective user of the navigation system and, in particular, to at least one person in the vehicle, preferably the driver of the vehicle, for example, through the message "Caution: Black ice" or "Caution: Road outside of built-up areas without structural separation."This allows the driver of a vehicle in particular to adapt his driving behaviour preventively before arriving at the hazard areas that are relevant to him individually.

[0017] In a further advantageous preferred embodiment of the invention, information about relevant hazards on a route is provided to the navigation system independently of the individual safety profile of the respective user of the vehicle's navigation system and is output accordingly. Thus, relevant hazard messages are transmitted to all users or navigation systems integrated into the communication, and in particular to all drivers of vehicles with corresponding navigation systems.

[0018] In a further advantageous preferred embodiment of the invention, the individual safety profile of at least two vehicle occupants is used to generate the safety route by forming a group of people as respective users of the vehicle's navigation system. Preferably, by forming a group of people as respective users of the vehicle's navigation system, all those vehicle occupants who have created a corresponding individual safety profile are involved in selecting the route for destination guidance.For this purpose, a predefined weighting of the preferences of the individual vehicle occupants can be applied, for example, a majority decision of the vehicle occupants regarding the individual safety-relevant route criteria and / or the individual risk factors for the safety-relevant route criteria, or the safety-relevant preferences of the vehicle driver are given greater weight than those of the other vehicle occupants, or the safety-relevant preferences of the vehicle driver are the sole deciding factor in the selection of the route for route guidance. This allows for the generation of route guidance routes that are as tailored as possible to the needs of all vehicle occupants and / or for the creation of corresponding hazard indicators during route guidance.The formation of a group of people as respective users of the vehicle's navigation system is particularly important in autonomously operated vehicles, since the experience and skill of a specific driver and his subjective perception of a "safe" driving of the vehicle no longer play a decisive role.

[0019] The method according to the invention can in particular also be provided on a navigation system of a vehicle that is appropriately equipped to carry out the method.

[0020] Advantageously, the method according to the invention takes into account the safety-relevant wishes of users of the navigation system individually, i.e., of an individual user of the vehicle's navigation system, in particular the driver of the vehicle, or of several vehicle occupants forming a group of people as users. For this purpose, a personal route is individually created for the users of the navigation system based on their personal safety-relevant wishes, and this personal route is provided as a safety route for guidance to a navigation destination.Information and warnings for this safety route, and in particular hazard warnings, are individually tailored to the users of the navigation system and thus issued in an individualized manner. This means that users of the navigation system can be provided with individualized information on risk factors or dangerous spots or warnings about risk factors or dangerous spots on a route or on a safety route. By avoiding a disruptive or annoying flood of information and thus unnecessary information for the users of the navigation system, the information and warnings that the users of the navigation system subjectively classify as relevant are perceived with significantly greater attention. Overall, the guidance to a navigation destination gives the occupants of a vehicle a good and safe driving feeling.

[0021] In the following, an embodiment of the invention is described with reference to the drawing with the single figure ( Fig. 1) is explained.

[0022] The only figure ( Fig. 1) an example of a flow chart with some method steps of the method according to the invention for individualized warning of danger points and for selecting the route personally tailored to a respective user of the navigation system within the framework of route guidance to a navigation destination.

[0023] In a first method step S1, a user of a vehicle's navigation system, and in particular the driver of a vehicle, can enter their safety-relevant preferences for certain safety-relevant route criteria into an application program. This input is made, for example, using an app on a mobile phone or other mobile electronic device, or directly in the vehicle's navigation system. For this purpose, a selection list with the safety-relevant route criteria is displayed, in which the user, and in particular the driver of a vehicle, can select and check off their preferred points for the safety-relevant route criteria. In particular, situations, travel criteria, and locations that should be avoided on a route as part of the route guidance to a navigation destination are listed here.For example, the following safety-relevant route criteria are available for selection: avoiding sections of the journey in areas of black ice, fog, snow or heavy rain, avoiding sections of the journey with steep gradients, narrow traffic patterns or construction sites, and avoiding sections of the journey with a high number of accidents in the past.

[0024] In a second method step S2, a user of the navigation system of a vehicle and in particular a driver of a vehicle enters the navigation destination to which the vehicle is to approach as part of the route guidance.

[0025] In a third method step S3, the vehicle's navigation system generates possible routes to the navigation destination. This generates, for example, the fastest route to the navigation destination, the shortest route to the navigation destination, and the most economical route to the navigation destination. Furthermore, a safety route is generated, in which the safety-relevant route criteria selected by the user of the navigation system and, in particular, by the vehicle driver are fully or largely met, or with the greatest degree of agreement.

[0026] In a fourth method step S4, the routes generated by the vehicle's navigation system are displayed. The user of the navigation system, and in particular the driver of the vehicle, is also shown the safety route, which also displays any current risk factors for the safety-relevant route criteria on the safety route. These current risk factors for the safety-relevant route criteria on the safety route are provided to the vehicle's navigation system by a central location communicatively connected to the vehicle and by other road users communicatively connected to the vehicle, and are displayed by the navigation system. For example, this information is generated based on current weather data, data collected from other road users, or data stored in databases.Furthermore, certain relevant hazard information on the possible routes to the navigation destination is communicated and displayed to the user of the navigation system and in particular to the driver of the vehicle, regardless of their preferences.

[0027] In a fifth method step S5, the user of a vehicle's navigation system, and in particular the driver of the vehicle, selects their preferred route from the routes offered by the navigation system as part of the route guidance to the navigation destination. Typically, the user of a vehicle's navigation system, and in particular the driver of the vehicle, selects the safety route, as this provides the user of the vehicle's navigation system, and in particular the driver of the vehicle, with a good and pleasant feeling on the route as part of the route guidance to the navigation destination.

[0028] In a sixth method step S6, route guidance to the navigation destination is started. Upon selecting the safety route as the route to the navigation destination, the user of the vehicle's navigation system, and in particular the driver of the vehicle, is shown a continuously updated list of risk factors for the safety-relevant route criteria individually selected by the user of the vehicle's navigation system and in particular by the driver of the vehicle on the safety route. For example, the user of the vehicle's navigation system and in particular the driver of the vehicle selected the avoidance of critical road conditions due to snow, black ice, or fog as safety-relevant route criteria. These criteria were then displayed to the user of the vehicle's navigation system and in particular to the driver of the vehicle upon their occurrence on the safety route as part of the route guidance to the navigation destination.For this purpose, appropriate visual and / or acoustic warnings can be issued to proactively raise awareness among the user of the vehicle's navigation system, and especially the driver. For example, a visual display in the vehicle's navigation system with the message "Caution: Black ice / fog / snow-covered road in 3 km" is displayed, accompanied by an acoustic warning tone.

[0029] As already mentioned, especially in autonomous vehicles, several people within a group of people who are passengers in the vehicle during the journey to a navigation destination can also act as the respective users of the vehicle's navigation system. In this case, the safety-relevant preferences of the entire group of people, and thus of all vehicle occupants, can be taken into account accordingly, for example, through a majority decision or a cumulative specification of the safety-relevant preferences of all people in the group as users when selecting the safety-relevant route criteria. List of reference symbols S1 Input of safety-relevant route criteria S2 Input navigation destination S3 Generation of routes S4 Output safety route / reference to safety-relevant route criteria S5 Route selection S6 Start route guidance QUOTES CONTAINED IN THE DESCRIPTION

[0000] This list of documents submitted by the applicant was generated automatically and is included solely for the convenience of the reader. This list is not part of the German patent or utility model application. The DPMA assumes no liability for any errors or omissions. Cited patent literature

[0000] WO 2022 / 187198 A1

[0003] DE 10 2011 116 116 B3

[0004] US 10 / 697789 B2

[0005]

Claims

[1] Method for operating a navigation system of a vehicle, in which routes are generated for guidance to a navigation destination taking route criteria into account (S3), characterized by that a respective user of the navigation system is offered at least one safety route generated taking into account selectable safety-relevant route criteria for route guidance (S4) and / or a respective user of the navigation system is given an indication of the presence of risk factors for the safety-relevant route criteria on a offered route (S4). [2] Method according to claim 1, characterized by that the road surface condition of a route due to weather influences and / or the road surface course of a route and / or accident statistics on a route are used as safety-relevant route criteria for the safety route. [3] Method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized by that the risk factors for the safety-relevant route criteria are a weather-related impaired road condition and / or a road layout with dangerous spots and / or a high accident frequency on the route. [4] Method according to one of claims 1 to 3, characterized by that a respective user of the navigation system can create a personal individual safety profile based on a selection from a selection list with safety-relevant route criteria (S1), and that the personal individual safety profile is used to generate a safety route for destination guidance (S3) and / or to issue information on the presence of risk factors for the safety-relevant route criteria (S3). [5] Method according to one of claims 1 to 4, characterized bythat the safety-relevant route criteria and / or the risk factors for the safety-relevant route criteria are displayed to the respective user of the navigation system in an application program in a selection list for selection. [6] Method according to one of claims 1 to 5, characterized by that information about safety-relevant route criteria of a route and / or about risk factors for the safety-relevant route criteria on a route is made available to the navigation system by means of communication with a central unit and / or by means of communication with other road users. [7] Method according to one of claims 1 to 6, characterized by that information about relevant hazards on a route is made available to each user of the navigation system, regardless of the individual safety profile of the respective user of the navigation system. [8] Method according to one of claims 1 to 7, characterized by that the respective user of the navigation system is shown the safety-relevant route criteria on the route and / or the risk factors for the safety-relevant route criteria on the route. [9] Method according to one of claims 1 to 8, characterized by that the individual safety profile of at least two occupants of the vehicle as respective users of the navigation system is used to generate the safety route. [10] Navigation system (1) of a vehicle operable according to a method according to one of claims 1 to 9.

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