Road Name Assigning Means for Unnamed Roads
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Solution Overview
Problem
In areas with many unnamed roads, existing navigation systems struggle to provide accurate positional information and address search functionality, as they rely on road names that may not be available, leading to difficulties in identifying vehicle position and navigating.
Innovation Solution
An information processing apparatus that assigns road names to unnamed roads based on facility information, using a storage unit and display control means to display road maps with assigned names, and follows a predetermined priority order for facility-based naming to enhance positional clarity and address search capabilities.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of information
If road names are displayed on the road map, then the travel direction can be clearly recognized, but address search does not work in areas with unnamed roads
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses facility names (such as shop names, building names, or landmark names) as intermediary identifiers for unnamed roads. When a road lacks an official name, the system identifies nearby facilities and uses their names to represent the road, enabling address search functionality to work in areas with unnamed roads while still providing clear positional information to users.
2Loss of information
If the road name of the closest detected road is displayed as a temporary road name, then some positional information is provided, but accurate vehicle position identification cannot be achieved when many unnamed roads are present
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies different naming strategies to different segments of unnamed roads based on local characteristics. Instead of uniformly using the closest road's name, the system identifies specific facilities adjacent to each unnamed road segment and uses those facility names to create locally accurate identifiers. This allows each road segment to have a name that is meaningful and unique to its specific location, improving vehicle position identification accuracy.
3Device complexity
If no road name is displayed for unnamed roads, then the system remains simple, but it is difficult to accurately identify the vehicle position
Solution Approach 1:
The patent enables the navigation system to automatically generate meaningful road identifiers by utilizing existing facility information that is already present in the map data. The system self-services by identifying unnamed roads, finding adjacent facilities, and automatically assigning facility-based names without requiring external manual naming or complex additional infrastructure, thus maintaining system simplicity while improving position identification accuracy.
Data Source
AI summary
An information processing apparatus has a storage unit that stores road map information about road maps and a display control means for displaying a road map including road names on a display unit according to the road map information. The information processing apparatus includes a road name deciding means for deciding whether a road included in the road map has a road name, a facility deciding means for deciding, if the road name deciding means has decided that the road has no road name, whether a facility is related to the road, and a road name assigning means for assigning, if the facility deciding means has decided that a facility is related to the road, a name to the road on the basis of facility information about the facility.