Patent ID: 7734415
Filing Date: 2010-06-08
Classification: G01C

Abstract:
1. A navigation system for a vehicle, the system comprising: a position detector configured to detect a current position of the vehicle; a map data storage unit configured with a computer readable storage medium to store road map data; a route designating unit configured to designate a guide route to a destination based on the road map data and the current position; a route guide unit configured to output a guide to indicate a route for the vehicle to take at a guide-target branch point, which is a target for the guide on a guide route, when the vehicle approaches the guide-target branch point; a state storage unit configured to store states of route-deviated branch points, each route-deviated branch point being a branch point at which the vehicle deviated from a guide route in a past, the state of each route-deviated branch point including at least one state item of: a similarity determining unit configured to determine whether a state of the guide-target branch point, which is obtained from the road map data stored in the map data storage unit, is similar to one of the states of the route-deviated branch points, which are stored in the state storage unit, by comparing with respect to the at least one state item, the guide-target branch point being a different point than the route-deviated branch points; a guide change unit configured to change a manner of a guide at the guide-target branch point by adding a guide for preventing deviation from the guide route when the state of the guide-target branch point is determined to be similar to the one of the stored at least one state items of the route-deviated branch points, in comparison with a case when the at least one state item of the guide-target branch point is determined to be not similar to any one of the stored at least one state items of the route-deviated branch points; and a deviation determining unit configured to determine whether the vehicle deviates from a guide route at a branch point intentionally or mistakenly, wherein the state storage unit stores a state of the branch point when the deviation determining unit determines that the vehicle deviates from the guide route at the branch point mistakenly instead of intentionally, the deviation determining unit being further configured to determine that the vehicle has deviated from a guide route mistakenly instead of intentionally in one of conditions associated the deviation determining unit being further configured to determine that the vehicle has deviated from a guide route intentionally in a condition associated when the vehicle deviates from the guide route and stops at a position excluding the destination and passing points included in the guide route.