NAVIGATION SYSTEM AND METHOD

Abstract

A method for activation or cancellation of presentation of navigation directions by a navigation system for a vehicle user operating a vehicle includes: —comparing a navigation route with a plurality of stored road stretches, wherein the stored road stretches are classified as known to the vehicle user, —activating presentation of navigation directions associated to the navigation route when travelling on a road stretch not included in the stored road stretches, or —cancelling presentation of navigation directions associated to the navigation route when travelling on a road stretch included in the stored road stretches.

Claims

1. A method for activation or cancellation of presentation of navigation directions by a navigation system for a vehicle user operating a vehicle, the method comprises the steps: comparing a navigation route with a plurality of stored road stretches, wherein the stored road stretches are classified as known to the vehicle user, activating presentation of navigation directions associated to the navigation route when travelling on a road stretch not included in the stored road stretches, or cancelling presentation of navigation directions associated to the navigation route when travelling on a road stretch included in the stored road stretches.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the method comprises: determining the vehicle user and retrieving the stored road stretches associated with that vehicle user.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein the method comprises: registering a road stretch the vehicle user travels on when the navigation system is active, classifying a road stretch as known to the vehicle user after a vehicle user input when it has been registered at least one time.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the method comprises: classifying a road stretch included in the stored road stretches as a road stretch not included in the stored road stretches upon the vehicle user not following the road stretch included in the stored road stretches and/or upon a vehicle user input to classify the road stretch as not included in the stored road stretches.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the method comprises: classifying a road stretch included in the stored road stretches as road stretch not included in the stored road stretches if the navigation system determines that at least part of the road stretch included in the stored road stretches has changed, e.g. due to roadworks, redesign or an accident.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein the method comprises: determining that the vehicle is travelling on a road stretch included in the stored road stretches by means of one or more of: global navigation satellite system (GNSS), assisted global navigation satellite system, Vehicle-to-everything (V2X) position extraction, blue tooth transmitter position extraction, radio triangulation, radio multilateration, 5G positioning and 6G positioning.

7. The method according to claim 1, wherein the method comprises: requesting confirmation from the vehicle user if activation or cancellation of navigation directions should be engaged before starting navigation.

8. Anon-transitory computer readable medium storing a computer program comprising logical instructions configured to cause execution of the method according to claim 1.

9. A navigation system, wherein the navigation system comprises a vehicle user input arrangement, a vehicle route registration unit, a storage arrangement and a vehicle position determination unit, wherein the navigation system is configured for: comparing a navigation route with a plurality of stored road stretches, wherein the stored road stretches are classified as known to the vehicle user, activating presentation of navigation directions associated to the navigation route when travelling on a road stretch not included in the stored road stretches, or cancelling presentation of navigation directions associated to the navigation route when travelling on a road stretch included in the stored road stretches.

10. The navigation system according to claim 9, wherein the navigation system is further configured for: determining the vehicle user and retrieving the stored road stretches associated with that vehicle user.

11. The navigation system according to claim 10, wherein the vehicle route registration unit is further configured for: registering a road stretch the vehicle user travels on when the navigation system is active, classifying a road stretch as known to the vehicle user after a vehicle user input when it has been registered at least one time.

12. The navigation system according to claim 9, wherein the vehicle route registration unit is further configured for: classifying a road stretch included in the stored road stretches as a road stretch not included in the stored road stretches upon the vehicle user not following the road stretch included in the stored road stretches and/or upon a vehicle user input to classify the road stretch as not included in the stored road stretches, and classifying a road stretch included in the stored road stretches as road stretch not included in the stored road stretches if the navigation system determines that at least part of the road stretch included in the stored road stretches has changed, e.g. due to roadworks, redesign or an accident.

13. The navigation system according to claim 9, wherein the vehicle position determination unit determines the vehicle's position by one or more of: global navigation satellite system (GNSS), assisted global navigation satellite system, vehicle-to-everything (V2X) position extraction, blue tooth transmitter position extraction, radio triangulation, radio multilateration, 5G positioning, 6G positioning.

14. The navigation system according to claim 9, wherein the navigation system is further configured for: requesting confirmation from the vehicle user if activation or cancellation of navigation directions should be engaged before starting navigation.

15. A vehicle comprising a navigation system according to claim 9.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0065] FIG. 1 schematically shows a vehicle equipped with a navigation system,

[0066] FIGS. 2A-2C schematically shows different examples of navigation routes with road stretches that are classified as known to the vehicle user and that are not classified as known to the vehicle user,

[0067] FIG. 3 schematically shows a flowchart of the method of the disclosure according to one example embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0068] FIG. 1 schematically shows a vehicle 1 equipped with a navigation system 2. In FIG. 1, the navigation system 2 is schematically illustrated as being an integral part of the vehicle 1.

[0069] The navigation system 2 comprises a vehicle user input arrangement, such as a touch screen, a voice recognition unit or a physical keyboard arranged in connection to a vehicle infotainment system. Through the input arrangement the vehicle user can input a desired start destination, end destination, if the navigation route is to have any waypoints and/or if the navigation route has restrictions such as no toll roads, no highways and similar. The navigation system 2 further comprises a vehicle route registration unit arranged to register road stretches on which the vehicle 1 travels. Further, a storage arrangement 3 is arranged in the vehicle 1 and/or in a cloud server and is used to store road stretches classified as known to the vehicle user. A vehicle position determination unit in the navigation system 2 is arranged to determine the vehicle's 1 position for instance by a global navigation satellite system (GNSS), assisted global navigation satellite system, Vehicle-to-everything (V2X) position extraction, Bluetooth® transmitter position extraction, radio triangulation, radio multilateration, 5G positioning and 6G positioning. With positioning extraction is meant that the vehicle 1 is equipped with a receiver arranged to receive V2X or Bluetooth® position signals from V2X or Bluetooth® transmitters positioned along the navigation route.

[0070] It is also possible for a vehicle user to use a navigation application in a mobile phone as a navigation system 2 or to use a navigation application built-in in the vehicle's 1 on-board infotainment system. The navigation application in the mobile phone can be projected in the vehicle's 1 on-board infotainment system by Apple CarPlay® or Android Auto™.

[0071] In FIG. 1, a cloud storage is schematically illustrated as one example of a storage arrangement 3. The storage arrangement 3 can also be a local memory arrangement in the vehicle 1, a mobile phone internal memory if a mobile phone is used or a combination of the mentioned examples.

[0072] FIGS. 2A-2C show examples of how the method can be used in various situations.

[0073] FIG. 2A schematically shows a city road grid 4 in a navigation system 2. A navigation route 5 with a first road stretch 5a that is classified as known to the vehicle user and a second road stretch 5b that is not classified as known to the vehicle user is overlaid the city road grid 4. For simplification, the road stretches classified as known to the vehicle user has been combined into one first road stretch 5a. Similarly, the road stretches not classified as known to the vehicle user has been combined into one second road stretch 5b. In reality, the first and second road stretches 5a, 5b comprise a number of separate smaller road stretches.

[0074] The city comprises a river 6 separating two sides of the city with a bridge 7 connecting the two sides. In the figure, the vehicle user wants the navigation route 5 to begin at start location A and wishes to drive to end location B. The navigation system 2 compares the navigation route 5 with a plurality of stored road stretches classified as known to the vehicle user. In this example, the navigation system 2 recognizes that the vehicle user is familiar with a first road stretch 5a that leads to the bridge 7. During travelling of this road stretch 5a, the navigation system 2 cancels presentation of navigation directions.

[0075] Once the vehicle user has passed the bridge 7, the navigation system 2 recognizes that a second road stretch 5b to end location B is not classified as known to the vehicle user and activates presentation of navigation directions. As can be seen from the figure the navigation directions allow the vehicle user to navigate past a number of intersections 8 on the vehicle user's way to end location B.

[0076] It is of course possible that the reverse is possible. The vehicle user may be at start location A not knowing the way to the bridge 7, but is familiar with the road stretch from the bridge 7 to end location B. In this case, the navigation system 2 activates presentation of navigation directions during travelling on the first road stretch up until the vehicle user has passed the bridge 7. At this point, when entering the second road stretch, the navigation system 2 cancels presentation of navigation directions.

[0077] Another example of how the method can be used is shown in FIG. 2B. In this example, the start location A is in a city known to the vehicle user. The end location B is an unknown location situated after a long distance travelling on a highway 9 towards a city 10. When traveling from the start location A to the end location B situated outside the city 10 a distance away, having the navigation system 2 repeatedly present navigation directions “go straight forward” for 1.5 hours can be annoying. In this example, the navigation system 2 can present the “go straight forward” when entering the highway 9 and thereafter cancel the navigation directions. When the vehicle user approaches the highway exit 11 from the highway 9, the navigation system 2 activates presentation of navigation direction for the distance to the off-ramp and the last road stretch to the end location B.

[0078] A further example is the situation when the vehicle user needs presentation of navigation direction for a part of the navigation route 5, but both road stretches close to start location A and end location B are known, as shown in FIG. 2C. The vehicle user wants to drive from a known start location A in a city known to the vehicle user to an end location B in a second city known to the vehicle user. The vehicle user has not driven between these two locations before. As the vehicle user enters the navigation route 5, the navigation system 2 recognizes that a first road stretch 5a is classified as known to the vehicle user. The first road stretch 5a is connected to a second road stretch 5b that is not classified as known to the vehicle user. The second road stretch 5b is in turn connected to a third road stretch 5c that is classified as known to the vehicle user. In this example, the navigation system 2 cancels presentation of navigation directions during the first road stretch 5a, activates presentation of navigation directions during the second road stretch 5b and cancels presentation of navigation directions again during the third road stretch 5c.

[0079] FIG. 3 schematically shows a flowchart of the method of the disclosure according to one example embodiment.

[0080] In method step 100, the vehicle user starts navigation and enters navigation route 5 at least comprising a start location A and end location B. The start location A does not necessarily need to be entered manually, but can be taken as the vehicle's 1 current location. As an alternative to entering the end location B manually in the navigation system, the end location B can be predicted by the vehicle user's driving history or from a calendar event in a vehicle user's calendar. The calendar information can be synchronized with or otherwise be made available to the navigation system in a telephone and/or an in-vehicle navigation system.

[0081] In method step 110, the navigation system 2 compares the input navigation route 5 with a plurality of stored road stretches, wherein the stored road stretches are classified as known to the vehicle user.

[0082] In method step 120, the navigation system 2 determines which road stretch on which the vehicle 1 is travelling.

[0083] In method step 130, the navigation system 2 activates presentation of navigation directions associated to the navigation route 5 if it is determined in method step 120 the vehicle 1 is travelling on a road stretch not included in the stored road stretches.

[0084] Alternatively, in method step 140, the navigation system 2 cancels presentation of navigation directions associated to the navigation route 5 if it is determined that the vehicle 1 is travelling on a road stretch included in the stored road stretches.

[0085] The method step 120 is performed continuously so that the method can switch between method steps 130 and 140 when determining if the road stretch the vehicle 1 is travelling on is changes from a road stretch classified as known or as not known.

[0086] The method can also include the following steps, although they are not shown in the flowchart.

[0087] Determining the vehicle user and retrieving the stored road stretches associated with that vehicle user. This is preferably done before execution of method step 100.

[0088] Registering a road stretch the vehicle user travels on when the navigation system 2 is active and classifying a road stretch as known to the vehicle user after a vehicle user input when it has been registered at least one time. This can be done essentially concurrently with the method step 120.

[0089] Classifying a road stretch included in the stored road stretches as a road stretch not included in the stored road stretches upon the vehicle user not following the road stretch included in the stored road stretches and/or upon a vehicle user input to classify the road stretch as not included in the stored road stretches. This can be performed if it is discovered during travelling on a known road stretch that the vehicle user deviates from the road stretch classified as known and affects method step 110 as the road stretches classified as known will be changed. This in turn will affect the activation and cancelling of presenting navigation directions in method steps 130 and 140 based on the outcome of method step 120.

[0090] Classifying a road stretch included in the stored road stretches as road stretch not included in the stored road stretches if the navigation system 2 determines that at least part of the road stretch included in the stored road stretches has changed, e.g. due to roadworks, redesign or an accident. This affects method steps 110-140 as described in the paragraph above.

[0091] Requesting confirmation from the vehicle user if activation or cancellation of navigation directions should be engaged before starting navigation. This step can be performed before the navigation route 5 is entered in step 100.

[0092] Although the disclosure has been illustrated and described in detail in the drawings and foregoing description, such illustration and description are to be considered illustrative or exemplary and the disclosure is not limited to the disclosed example embodiments. The method has been described for use with a vehicle, but it can also be adapted for other kinds of vehicles or for navigating on foot.

REFERENCES

[0093] 1. Vehicle [0094] 2. Navigation system [0095] 3. Storage arrangement [0096] 4. City road grid [0097] 5. Navigation route [0098] a. First road stretch [0099] b. Second road stretch [0100] c. Third road stretch [0101] 6. River [0102] 7. Bridge [0103] 8. Intersection [0104] 9. Highway [0105] 10. City [0106] 11. Highway exit