Title: Navigation method and navigation system for motor vehicles
Abstract: Navigation method and navigation system for motor vehicles for navigating from a present location to a destination. In response to an emergency user request, an emergency destination closest to the present location is selected from a database, set as the destination, and a route calculated from the present location to the emergency destination. The navigation system includes a memory having a database for emergency destinations and a device for selecting, from the database, an emergency destination closest to the present location.
Patent Number: 6,889,137 Issued on 05/03/2005 to Rychlak
| Inventors:
|
Rychlak; Stefan (Ilsede, DE)
|
| Assignee:
|
Robert Bosch GmbH (Stuttgart, DE)
|
| Appl. No.:
|
048762 |
| Filed:
|
July 18, 2000 |
| PCT Filed:
|
July 18, 2000
|
| PCT NO:
|
PCTDE00/02320
|
| 371 Date:
|
July 25, 2002
|
| 102(e) Date:
|
July 25, 2002
|
| PCT PUB.NO.:
|
WO0108120 |
| PCT PUB. Date:
|
February 1, 2001 |
Foreign Application Priority Data
| Jul 24, 1999[DE] | 199 34 862 |
| Current U.S. Class: |
701/209; 340/286.07; 340/287; 342/457; 701/207; 701/208 |
| Intern'l Class: |
G08G 001/12.3 |
| Field of Search: |
701/209,200,202,204,206,207,208,213,24
702/5
340/286.05,286.06,286.07,287
342/457
|
References Cited [Referenced By]
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| 5568390 | Oct., 1996 | Hirota et al.
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| 5570100 | Oct., 1996 | Grube et al.
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| 5867110 | Feb., 1999 | Naito et al.
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| 6028537 | Feb., 2000 | Suman et al.
| |
| 6574561 | Jun., 2003 | Alexander et al.
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| Foreign Patent Documents |
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| WO 0007165 | Feb., 2000 | WO.
| |
Primary Examiner: Black; Thomas G.
Assistant Examiner: Donnelly; Arthur D.
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Kenyon & Kenyon
Claims
1. A navigation method for a motor vehicle for navigating from a present location
to a destination, comprising the steps of:
selecting an emergency destination closest to the present location from a database
in response to an emergency user request;
setting the emergency destination as the destination; and
calculating a route from the present location to the emergency destination, wherein
the calculating of the route occurs in the vehicle.
2. The navigation method according to claim 1, further comprising the step of:
in response to the emergency user request, providing different types of emergency
destinations for selection by a user.
3. The navigation method according to claim 1, wherein:
the emergency destination includes at least one of a hospital, a police station,
a public telephone, an emergency shelter, an emergency call box, and a fire station.
4. The navigation method according to claim 1, further comprising the step of:
pressing a predetermined key to activate the emergency user request.
5. The navigation method according to claim 1, wherein:
wherein the predetermined key is pressed for a predetermined length of time to
activate the emergency user request.
6. The navigation method according to claim 5, wherein:
the predetermined length of time is three seconds.
7. The navigation method according to claim 1, further comprising the step of:
setting up a communications link over which the emergency destination is notified
of an imminent arrival of the motor vehicle to the emergency destination via a
communications interface.
8. The navigation method according to claim 7, further comprising the step of:
notifying the emergency destination of a time the motor vehicle is expected to
arrive at the emergency destination.
9. The navigation method according to claim 7, wherein:
at least one of the motor vehicle and a vehicle driver requests a diagnosis from
the emergency destination over the communications link.
10. The navigation method according to claim 1, wherein:
the database is an external database,
a communications link is set up to an external database via a communications
interface, and
the emergency destination is selected from the external database.
11. A navigation system for a motor vehicle for navigating from a present location
to a destination, comprising:
a database for emergency destinations;
a device for selecting, from the database, an emergency destination closest to
the present location; and
an arrangement, provided in the motor vehicle, for calculating a route from the
present location to the emergency destination closest to the present location,
wherein the calculating of the route occurs in the vehicle.
12. The navigation system according to claim 11, further comprising:
a memory for storing the database.
13. The navigation system according to claim 11, further comprising:
an external memory for storing the database; and
a communications interface for retrieving an emergency destination from the external
memory.
14. The navigation system according to claim 11, further comprising:
a manually operated key for activating the device for selecting in order to determine
the emergency destination closest to the present location.
15. The navigation system according to claim 11, wherein:
the emergency destination closest to the present location includes at least one
of a hospital, a police station, a public telephone, an emergency shelter, an emergency
call box, and a fire station.
16. The navigation method according to claim 1, further comprising the step of:
in response to the emergency user request, providing different types of emergency
destinations for selection by a user;
wherein the emergency destination includes at least one of a hospital, a police
station, a public telephone, an emergency shelter, an emergency call box, and a
fire station.
17. The navigation method according to claim 1, further comprising the steps of:
setting up a communications link over which the emergency destination is notified
of an imminent arrival of the motor vehicle to the emergency destination via a
communications interface; and
notifying the emergency destination of a time the motor vehicle is expected to
arrive at the emergency destination.
18. The navigation method according to claim 17, wherein:
at least one of the motor vehicle and a vehicle driver requests a diagnosis from
the emergency destination over the communications link.
19. The navigation method according to claim 17, wherein:
the database is an external database,
a communications link is set up to an external database via a communications
interface, and
the emergency destination is selected from the external database.
20. The navigation method according to claim 16, wherein:
the database is an external database,
a communications link is set up to an external database via a communications
interface, and
the emergency destination is selected from the external database.
21. A navigation system for a motor vehicle for navigating from a present location
to a destination, comprising:
a database for emergency destinations;
a selecting device to select from the database an emergency destination closest
to the present location;
a determining arrangement to determine a route from the present location to the
emergency destination closest to the present location;
an external memory to store the database;
a communications interface to retrieve an emergency destination from the external
memory; and
a manually operated key to activate the selecting device to determine the emergency
destination closest to the present location;
wherein the calculating of the route occurs in the vehicle.
Description
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a navigation method and a navigation system
for motor vehicles for navigating from a present location to a destination.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
In means of conveyance, such as motor vehicles, airplanes or ships, permanently
installed navigation systems quickly, easily and reliably guide the driver of the
means of conveyance from a present location to a desired destination without requiring
the driver of the means of conveyance to go to the trouble of planning a route
and obtaining the appropriate maps ahead of time. For this purpose, navigation
data based on, for example, charts, geographic maps or road maps are stored in
the navigation system, for example on CD-ROM. The navigation system uses, for example,
a global positioning system (GPS) to determine a present location and calculate
navigation instructions that lead to a predetermined destination. The navigation
data preferably includes information about roads and routes for motor vehicles.
However, before the navigation system can perform its function and calculate
a route from the starting location to the destination, a user enters the desired
destination and, in non-GPS navigation systems, possibly the present location as
well. This is done, for example, using a manual input device, with the user having
to sequentially retrieve or scroll to, and then select, letters in a character
table until the selected letters and numbers form, for example, a city name, a
street name and a house number of the destination or starting location. However,
this is both complicated and time-consuming and requires a certain amount of basic
skill in operating the navigation system. This input also takes a certain amount
of time, which can be especially disadvantageous if the user is having an emergency
in an unknown area and must quickly reach, for example, a hospital or police station.
The need to first laboriously determine the location, for example, of the nearest
hospital and program the navigation system to calculate a route to this nearest
hospital takes up valuable time. Furthermore, it has been frequently observed that
people involved in emergencies and suffering from the associated stress, often
are no longer capable of remembering generally known emergency medical numbers
(112 or 19222) and are certainly no longer able to enter information quickly and
correctly into the navigation system. In such extraordinary circumstances, a person
involved in an emergency in familiar surroundings often can no longer easily recall
even a normally well known route to the nearest hospital.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An object of the present invention is to provide an improved method and an improved
device of the type mentioned above which overcome the above-mentioned disadvantages
and provide a user with optimum support even at times of elevated stress in emergency situations.
According to the present invention, this is accomplished with a navigation
method of the type mentioned above by selecting, in response to an emergency request
by the user, an emergency destination closest to the present location from a database,
setting it as the destination and calculating a route from the present location
to the emergency destination.
This has the advantage that, in an emergency, the navigation system can provide
valuable assistance in directing the user to the nearest emergency destination,
for example a hospital, a fire station or a police station, without time consuming
input or programming work. This adds an important additional route selection function
to the functionality of a navigation system.
At the request of the user, different types of emergency destinations are suitably
offered for selection by the user, with the emergency destinations being, for example,
hospitals, police stations, public telephones, emergency shelters, emergency call
boxes and/or fire stations.
The user makes an emergency request, for example, by pressing a key for a predetermined
period of time lasting, for example, three seconds.
According to an advantageous embodiment of the present invention, after
selecting the emergency destination for which the route is calculated, the emergency
destination is notified, preferably automatically, of the vehicle's arrival. This
gives the emergency destination enough time to prepare for the arrival of the affected
vehicle and thus to take any necessary measures. In particular, an emergency room
of a hospital, for example, can be selected as an emergency destination and be
prepared in good time for the arrival of an accident victim or a patient.
It is also advantageous for the selected emergency destination to provide the
driver of the nearing vehicle with a selection of possible or probable diagnoses,
from which the vehicle driver can select the one most applicable to his or her
situation and have it communicated to the emergency destination. This can further
improve efforts by the emergency destination to prepare for the arriving vehicle
and provide faster and more specific treatment or care for the vehicle driver or
vehicle passengers.
According to the present invention, a navigation system of the type mentioned
above is also provided with a memory having a database for emergency destinations
and a device for selecting an emergency destination closest to the present location
from the database.
According to another advantageous embodiment of the present invention,
a communications link to an external database, for example in the form of a service
center, is set up via a communications interface, and the selected emergency destination—or
the group of emergency destinations offered for selection—is supplied to
the navigation system over the communications link. This has the advantage that
the latest information about emergency destinations, which is maintained, for example,
by the service center, is always available. In addition, at times outside normal
business hours, such as at night, over the weekend or on public holidays, the selection
of emergency destinations can be limited to only those that actually have an emergency
service—in the case of a medical emergency service, for example, the nearest
doctor's office offering a weekend emergency service.
A user-friendly operability is achieved by providing a manually operated key
to
activate the device for selecting an emergency destination closest to the present
location. This makes it possible to easily and directly activate the device for
selecting an emergency destination closest to the present location.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The FIGURE shows a schematic block diagram of a preferred embodiment of a navigation
system according to the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
The preferred embodiment of a navigation system
100 according to the present
invention and illustrated in the Figure includes a destination guidance system
10 with acoustic road guidance
12 via a speaker unit
14, a
display unit
16 to display, for example; "destination, city, street," a
microprocessor
18 with a user interface in the form of a keypad
20,
a memory
22 for emergency destinations, a radio receiver
24 that
is also connected to speaker unit
14, and an antenna
28 that is connected
to both radio receiver
24 and destination guidance system
10. The
above-mentioned components are located in or on a motor vehicle identified by reference
number
30, which is indicated only by broken lines.
A database of emergency destinations in a digital map base of the navigation
system,
which represents an actual road grid, is stored in memory
22. Emergency
destinations of this type are, for example, hospitals, police stations, public
telephones, emergency call boxes and/or fire stations. A device
26 for selecting
the emergency destination closest to the present location from the database in
memory
22 is integrated into microprocessor
18, for example, in the
form of a software module. An emergency key
32 that is activated by operating
device
26 is integrated into keypad
20. This emergency key
32
is labeled in an appropriate manner on keypad
20.
To carry out user requests, the user operates keypad
20 manually. The
term
"user request" in this case refers to an input by the user, such as pressing a
key on navigation system
100, this input being intended to activate a predetermined
function of navigation system
100. A user request in an emergency, for example
a medical emergency, is hereinafter referred to as an "emergency user request."
This emergency user request is carried out by manually pressing emergency key
32.
If the user of motor vehicle
30 has an emergency that requires him or
her,
for example, to drive quickly to the nearest hospital, the user presses the emergency
key
32 to generate the "emergency user request." A selection menu then appears
on display unit
16, for example, in the following form:
Emergency Destinations:
- Nearest hospital
- Nearest police station
- Nearest fire station
- Nearest veterinary office
The user selects "nearest hospital." after which device
26 selects, from
memory
22, the hospital that is closest to the present location. The location
of this nearest hospital is set as the destination and a route calculated from
the present location to the destination. Destination guidance system
10
subsequently guides the user along the route to this nearest hospital via display
unit
16 and acoustic announcement unit
12.
This eliminates the need of the user to laboriously select the nearest hospital
himself, for example using a map, and then enter this location manually as the
destination. All of this is done automatically by navigation system
100.
According to an advantageous embodiment of the present invention, a communications
interface
34, in the present case in the form of a mobile telephone that
operates according to the GSM, UMTS or a comparable standard, is connected to microprocessor
18. This interface has a transmitting/receiving antenna
36 to transmit
and/or receive mobile wireless signals. According to the embodiment, memory
22
contains not only the emergency destinations, but also addresses, in particular,
telephone numbers under which the emergency destinations can be reached.
According to the embodiment, when the vehicle driver selects an emergency
destination from the database stored in memory
22, a telephone number of
the selected emergency destination is output and supplied to communications interface
34, which sets up a communications link to the selected emergency destination
on the basis of the telephone number. After the communications link has been set
up between the vehicle and emergency destination, the emergency destination is
notified of the vehicle's arrival. This notification can include nothing more than
simply telling the emergency destination that the vehicle is about to arrive. In
addition to this, the selected emergency destination is advantageously notified
of the time the vehicle is expected to arrive at the emergency destination.
This time is determined, for example, from the traffic route data stored in
memory
22, which includes the average speed values assigned to the route
segments, based on the vehicle's present location and the calculated route to the
emergency destination.
According to the embodiment, the emergency destination can also provide
the vehicle driver with a selection of probable diagnoses (medical diagnoses if,
for example, a hospital was selected as the emergency destination) over the established
communications link. Like the selection of emergency destinations, the selection
of probable diagnoses can also be displayed on display unit
16 so that the
vehicle driver can choose, from the list of offered diagnoses, the one that he
or she feels is most appropriate to the situation, with this option being subsequently
communicated to the selected emergency destination over the communications link.
In addition, or as an alternative, the emergency destination can also obtain a
diagnosis, for example, by having a doctor on duty at a hospital selected as the
emergency destination talk to the vehicle driver by telephone over the established
communications link. Speaker
14 of the navigation system is preferably used
for acoustic playback of the voice signals received from the emergency destination
via communications interface
34.
Alternatively, if a motor vehicle repair shop is selected as the emergency
destination, a remote diagnosis of the vehicle or of important vehicle components
can be automatically carried out over the communications link, with important vehicle
data, such as coolant temperature, oil level indication, fuel level, etc., which
is available in an on-board computer connected to the navigation device according
to the present invention, being requested either automatically or by a specialist
at the emergency destination.
A further refinement of the present invention concerns an external database from
which a selected emergency destination, or multiple emergency destinations provided
for selection, is loaded into the navigation system. For this purpose, the navigation
system has communications interface
34 described above, which is designed
to set up a communications link to the external database.
For this purpose, at least one address, preferable a telephone number, of a service
center that manages the external database and updates the data it contains, is
stored in the navigation system.
In the event of an emergency user request, communications interface
34
sets up a communications link to the service center, based on the address stored
in the navigation system, whereupon an emergency destination is loaded from its
database or, according to a preferred embodiment, a multiplicity of selectable
emergency destinations are loaded from the database. Vehicle position data is preferably
transmitted from the navigation system to the service center, which determines
the one or more emergency destinations in the vicinity of the vehicle's location
and provides it or them to the navigation system.
The service center maintains the emergency destinations by continuously updating
the emergency destination data, in particular information about their availability.
For example, the service center enters into the database information about the
emergency destination's business hours and any emergency services available outside
of business hours, for example a medical weekend emergency service. As a result,
only those emergency destinations can be selected which are indeed available at
the time of the emergency user request or, according to an advantageous embodiment
of the present invention, will be available at the time the vehicle is expected
to arrive at the emergency destination. Thus, in the event of a medical emergency
over the weekend, for example, only the doctor's offices or hospitals scheduled
to provide emergency services on that particular weekend are selected as emergency
destinations in response to an emergency user request.
The one or more emergency destinations provided by the service center are loaded
into navigation system
100 over the established communications link and
used in the manner described above. The loaded emergency destination data advantageously
needs to include only the destination locations and, if the user is able to select
the destinations, a concise identification of the emergency destination, such as
"hospital," "police," "road assistance," or the like.
*
