Route guidance apparatus, route guidance method, and computer program

A route guidance method for a moveable body, the method comprising:

• setting a navigation route;
• acquiring a position of the movable body;
• based on the acquired position, determining, with a processor, a guidance intersection in front of the movable body in a direction of travel along the navigation route;
• acquiring a shape of the guidance intersection;
• determining, with the processor, an exit road on which the movable body leaves the guidance intersection according to the navigation route;
• based on the acquired shape of the guidance intersection, determining, with the processor, whether the determined exit road is one of a plurality of roads connected to the guidance intersection that exist in an area extending in the same direction as the determined exit road;
• when the determined road is one of the plurality of roads that exist in the area extending in the same direction as the exit road, associating, with the processor, each of the plurality of roads with an identification information item usable to identify a connecting relationship with the guidance intersection;
• and
• providing, with the processor, guidance on the guidance intersection using the identification information item associated with the exit road.

A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing a computer-executable route guidance program, the program comprising:

• instructions for setting a navigation route;
• instructions for acquiring a position of a movable body;
• instructions for, based on the acquired position, determining a guidance intersection in front of the movable body in a direction of travel along the navigation route;
• instructions for acquiring a shape of the guidance intersection;
• instructions for determining an exit road on which the movable body leaves the guidance intersection according to the navigation route;
• instructions for, based on the acquired shape of the guidance intersection, determining whether the determined exit road is one of a plurality of roads connected to the guidance intersection that exist in an area extending in the same direction as the determined exit road;
• instructions for, when the determined road is one of the plurality of roads that exist in the area extending in the same direction as the exit road, associating each of the plurality of roads with an identification information item usable to identify a connecting relationship with the guidance intersection;
• and
• instructions for providing guidance on the guidance intersection using the identification information item associated with the exit road.