Patent ID: 8798910

Claim:
A method for estimating a parameter of an evaluation function used for selecting a route from a departure point to an arrival point, the method comprising: acquiring, with a processing device, information concerning a departure point and an arrival point and information concerning a route from the departure point to the arrival point; generating a plurality of basic routes on the basis of the acquired information concerning the departure point and the arrival point and the acquired information concerning the route from the departure point to the arrival point; acquiring information concerning a route actually selected; calculating a parameter of an evaluation function that yields the actually selected route as an optimum route among the plurality of basic routes and the actually selected route; generating a new route using the calculated parameter; determining whether or not the generated new route is identical to the actually selected route; on a condition that it is determined that the generated new route is not identical to the actually selected route, adding the generated new route to the basic routes, calculating a parameter of the evaluation function anew, repeating generation of a new route, and comparing the generated new route with the actually selected route; and on a condition that it is determined that the generated new route is identical to the actually selected route, storing the parameter at the time when the new data becomes identical to the actually selected route as a parameter of the evaluation function.