PERIPHERAL MAP GENERATION METHOD, COMBINED MAP GENERATION METHOD, AND METHOD OF SUPPORTING TRAVEL OF MOVING OBJECT

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce the processing amount relating to travel support for a moving object by efficiently generating peripheral maps and combined maps. SOLUTION: A peripheral map generation method includes: an area setting process of setting a peripheral map area divided into a plurality of cells by a grid, in a forward periphery of the moving object; a map generation process of generating a peripheral map by writing the presence or the absence of obstacles per cell; a map rotation process of rotating the peripheral map so that a direction of the peripheral map may coincide with a direction of a wide-area map taking a range wider than the peripheral map as an object; a combination process of generating a combined map by putting the wide-area map and the peripheral map after rotation one over the other and writing information of the peripheral map into the wide-area map; and a guiding process of guiding the mobile object to a destination by using the combined map. In the area setting process, the size and/or grid intervals of the peripheral map area are varied in accordance with the speed of the moving object. COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT