SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR COURSE GUIDANCE IN PARKING LOT, ONBOARD NAVIGATION DEVICE

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To automatically perform course guidance to a vacant parking section having a character in respect of places which a user desires. SOLUTION: Through a roadside device 5 to a vehicle side, a parking-lot management device 6 distributes information on its parking lot comprising data on a map of the inside of the parking lot including vacant parking sections in the parking lot 1, the positions of the vacant sections, character information on each vacant section including one or a plurality of character categories in respect of places, and information on the pathways inside the parking lot. A controller 41 of an onboard navigation device 30 allows a storage portion 34 to store the parking lot information received by a vehicle having arrived at the entrance of the parking lot, and allows a display device 38 to display a map image of the inside of the parking lot including the vacant sections by using the data on the map of the parking lot. A registration portion 43 registers information on the character of a parking section used for parking every time parking is performed in a history information storage portion 42. A course-to-vacant-section guidance portion 44 compares character information and history information of each vacant section in the parking-lot information received this time, selects as a target section one vacant section comprising a character category which appears the most frequently in the history information, and performs course guidance from a current position up to the target section by referring to the pathway information. COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT