Navigation apparatus

Abstract

A navigation apparatus includes an unregistered road detecting means for setting up a detection start point and a detection end point for an unregistered road on registered roads which are respectively located before and behind sections in which matching result data indicates a free state, respectively, the matching result data indicating a matching state when the vehicle is traveling each of the registered roads, for performing a coordinate transformation on a traveling path which is created from positioning data and which is extending between the two points so that the traveling path has coordinates which match with the coordinates of a registered road between them, and for detecting the coordinates of the unregistered road from a portion of the coordinate-transformed traveling path which does not overlap any registered road, and a road data generating means for creating road data about the unregistered road from the coordinates of the unregistered road.

1 . A navigation apparatus comprising:
 a sensor for detecting a behavior of a vehicle;   a positioning means for estimating the behavior of the vehicle on a basis of a signal from said sensor;   a road-map-data storage means for storing road data;   a road matching means for comparing positioning data sent thereto, as an estimation result, from said positioning means with the road data read from said road-map-data storage means so as to identify a current position of the vehicle, and for judging whether the identification is placed in either a matching state in which there are one or more candidates for an existing position of the vehicle on a registered road shown by said road data or a free state in which the current position of the vehicle is finally identified as being out of any registered road, and then outputting matching result data indicating the state of the identification, and for outputting position candidate data indicating candidates for the existing position of the vehicle on registered roads when the state of the identification is the matching state;   an unregistered road detecting means for selecting, as a detection start point on a registered road and a detection end point on a registered road for an unregistered road, two candidates from the candidates for the existing position of the vehicle on registered roads, which are shown by the position candidate data from said road matching means, and for outputting travel path data about a travel path from said detection start point to said detection end point, which is created on a basis of the positioning data from said positioning means; and   a road data generating means for creating road data about the unregistered road on a basis of coordinates of the unregistered road created by said unregistered road detecting means, and for storing the created road data in said road-map-data storage means.   
   
   
       2 . The navigation apparatus according to  claim 1 , wherein when the state of the identification is the matching state, said road matching means outputs connection relation data indicating a connection relation between candidates for the existing position of the vehicle shown by position candidate data obtained at a previous time and candidates for the existing position of the vehicle shown by position candidate data obtained at a current time, in addition to the matching result data and the position candidate data, and said unregistered road detecting means sets up the detection start point and the detection end point for the unregistered road on a registered road in which a connection continues to exist while the vehicle travels a predetermined distance or longer from the position candidate data and the connection relation data from said road matching means. 
   
   
       3 . The navigation apparatus according to  claim 1 , wherein said apparatus further includes an input means for inputting coordinates, and an unregistered road editing means for creating coordinates of the unregistered road which connect the coordinates inputted by said input means using a traveling path shown by the travel path data from said unregistered road detecting means, and the coordinates inputted by said input means, and wherein said road data generating means creates road data about the unregistered road on a basis of the coordinates of the unregistered road created by said unregistered road editing means, and stores the created road data in said road-map-data storage means.