JP2001330463A - Car navigation system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To surely provide route information at intersections. SOLUTION: The present position of the vehicle and a guide route to a destination are displayed on a road map in the neighborhood of the vehicle. Moreover, an enlarged view of the intersection is displayed. An advance direction to the destination is informed when the enlarged view of the intersection is displayed.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an on-vehicle navigation device for displaying a road map and a current position of a vehicle on a display device and guiding an occupant to a destination.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In-vehicle navigation devices for displaying a route to a destination and a position of a vehicle on a road map around a vehicle and guiding an occupant to the destination have been put into practical use (for example, Nissan new model vehicle manual). Y32-1 June 1991).

[0003]

However, in the above-mentioned on-vehicle navigation device, since a large amount of information is displayed in a small display screen, there is a problem that it is difficult to confirm a course at an intersection.

An object of the present invention is to provide route information at an intersection reliably.

[0005]

A display means for displaying a current position of a vehicle and a guidance route to a destination on a road map around the vehicle, an enlarged view of an intersection, and an enlarged view of the intersection are displayed. Notification means for notifying the traveling direction to the destination when the vehicle travels.

[0006]

1 and 2 show the configuration of a navigation device according to one embodiment. This device has a C
It is composed of a microcomputer centered on PU1. The CPU 1 exchanges data with various devices via the system bus 2 to perform various arithmetic processes. Three
Is a direction sensor for detecting the traveling direction of the vehicle, and is connected to the system bus 2 via the amplifier 4, the A / D converter 5, and the I / O controller 6. Reference numeral 7 denotes a vehicle speed sensor which generates a predetermined number of pulse signals per one rotation of the output shaft of the transmission, for example, and is connected to the system bus 2 via the I / O controller 6. The CPU 1 counts and accumulates the pulse signals, calculates the traveling distance of the vehicle, and calculates the vehicle speed from the number of pulses per unit time. A key 8 for inputting various commands and data to the apparatus is connected to the system bus 2 via the I / O controller 9. The key 8 includes a touch switch provided on the surface of the CRT. Reference numeral 10 denotes an audio output speaker, which includes a sound generator 11 and an I / O
It is connected to the system bus 2 via the controller 9.

[0007] Reference numeral 12 denotes a receiver (hereinafter, referred to as a GPS receiver) that receives a GPS signal radio wave, and is connected to the system bus 2 via an extended I / O controller 13.
Note that the current position of the vehicle is obtained from position information from the GPS receiver 11, traveling direction information of the vehicle from the direction sensor 3,
And the travel distance information from the vehicle speed sensor 7
It is calculated by U1. A receiver 14 having an antenna 15 receives road traffic information and position information such as traffic congestion, road works, and traffic regulations from road beacons installed on roads and intersections.

In FIG. 2, reference numeral 16 denotes a CD-ROM storing road map data.
It is connected to the system bus 2 via the SI controller 17. 18 is a VDT (Visual Display).
A CRT that functions as a terminal, is connected to the system bus 2 via the graphic controller 19, displays a road map around the vehicle, and displays a mark indicating the current position of the vehicle on the road map.
A touch panel is provided on the surface of the CRT 18, and when a finger or the like touches an item displayed on the screen, a touch switch of the key 8 corresponding to the item is turned on.
Further, the system bus 2 has a V-RAM 20 for image storage of the CRT 18, a ROM 21 for storing a control program described later, a D-RAM 22 for temporary storage of data, a kanji ROM 23, and a battery backup for storing the current position and the like when the ignition is off. RAM 24 is connected.

Here, the road map data will be described. The road map is managed by dividing the whole country into small sections (hereinafter, referred to as regional meshes) defined in JIS-X0410, and the CPU 1 reads out a necessary range of road map in units of regional meshes. In addition, the road map is converted into data as a set of nodes indicating road intersections, bends, and the like, and straight lines connecting the nodes, ie, links, and the position coordinates and attribute information of each node and each link. It is stored with. This attribute information includes
The information includes road types such as expressways, national roads, and general roads, connection information of each intersection and each road, and information of major facilities such as stations, hotels, and government offices around the road.

Next, a road map displayed on the CRT 18 will be described. FIG. 3 shows a display example of the CRT 18. CR
A normal road map is displayed in the display area 31 of T18. Here, the normal road map is, for example, a road map on a scale of 1/125 million to 1/200000, and the CRT 1
8 is displayed in the scale set in the display area 31. FIG. 3 shows a display example of a road map from Ichikawa via Chiba Station to the destination, Narita.
4 is a guidance route to the destination.

On the other hand, the display area 32 of the CRT 18 displays a map in which main objects on the guidance route, that is, intersections, interchanges, service areas, ramps, and the like are arranged in a straight line. In this specification, the display area 31
Is referred to as a detailed map, whereas the map displayed in the display area 32 is referred to as a route map. This route diagram shows the guidance route 3 in the detailed map display area 31.
4 is displayed as a straight line, and the traveling direction is the direction of the sky, and the route 34 is displayed.
The name of the main target located above is arranged on the straight line, and is displayed centering on the mark 33b indicating the current position of the vehicle.
In the display example shown in FIG. 3, the name of the intersection between Chiba Station and Miyakomachi on the guide route 34 is displayed. Here, if there are many major landmarks on the guidance route, displaying them all makes it difficult to see at a glance like a detailed map,
The key landmarks to be displayed must be sorted out in some way. For example, prioritize according to the type of main landmark, such as interchange>ramp> intersection,
The main landmarks to be displayed are selected according to the scale of the detailed map.

The name of the main target on the route diagram is displayed at a position proportional to the distance from the current position of the vehicle along the actual guidance route 34 to the main target. In this display example, the current position 33b of the vehicle in the route diagram
From the current position 33a of the vehicle in the detailed map to the intersection of the Chiba station and the Miyakomachi via the guidance route 34.
The distance to that point may be displayed at the display position of the name of the main target. Further, the distance from the current position to the destination may be displayed in the display area 32 of the route map.

Display area 3 of the route map on the surface of the CRT 18
2, a touch panel is provided, and touch switches of keys 8 are arranged in a grid pattern of a predetermined pitch. The name of the main target displayed on the route diagram is used as a push button of these touch switches, and when a finger or the like is touched at the position where the name of the main target is displayed, an enlarged view of the target or detailed information (hereinafter, “ (Referred to as landmark information) is displayed on the CRT 18. For example, when the display position of Chiba Station in the route map shown in FIG. 3 is touched, a detailed map of the intersection in front of Chiba Station as shown in FIG. And target information such as the distance to the intersection is displayed. It should be noted that this target information is displayed when the passage of the point is detected, when a predetermined display time has elapsed, or when the cancel button 35 is pressed, as shown in FIG.
Return to the detailed map and route map display shown in FIG.

FIGS. 5 and 6 are flowcharts showing examples of control programs for the CPU 1. FIG. The operation of the embodiment will be described with reference to these flowcharts and display examples of the CRT 18 shown in FIGS. When a power switch (not shown) of the navigation device is turned on, the CPU 1 starts executing the control program. In step S1, an initial setting such as a current position and a destination of the vehicle input by the key 8 is performed. If the current position of the vehicle is not set, the position of the vehicle immediately after the previous run stored in the backup RAM 23 is read out, and the current position of the vehicle is re-determined.
It is stored in the RAM 22. In step S2, the road map data from the current position of the vehicle to the destination is read from the CD-ROM 16 and stored in the D-RAM 22. At this time, if the destination is far and the data amount exceeds a predetermined value, the data is appropriately divided and firstly read from the data around the vehicle. In the following step S3, a route search from the current position to the destination is performed to set an optimal guide route, and the optimum guide route is stored in the D-RAM 22.
It should be noted that various methods have been proposed for the route search, and are already known, so that detailed description will be omitted.

In step S4, the position coordinates of each node and each link of the road map data around the vehicle are converted into the scale of the set detailed map, and data that can be displayed on the display area 31 of the CRT 18 is extracted. In the following step S5, the extracted road map data is converted into image data and displayed on the display area 31 of the CRT 18 via the graphic controller 19. At this time, as shown in FIG. 3, the mark 33a is displayed at the current position of the vehicle, and the guidance route 34 to the destination is displayed by a thick line.

In step S6, the display range of the route diagram is determined. That is, the entire range of the guidance route 34 displayed in the detailed map display area 31 is set as the display range of the route map. Further, in step S7, the guidance route 34 of the display range is set.
From the main landmarks above, determine the landmark to be displayed on the route diagram. Here, as shown in FIG. 3, the intersection of the Chiba station and the Miyakomachi on the guidance route 34 in the detailed map display area 31 is determined as the target to be displayed. Next, in step S8, the display position of the target to be displayed is determined. That is, the distance from the current position of the vehicle to the display target via the guidance route 34 is calculated based on the road map data in the display area 31 of the detailed map, and the vehicle set at substantially the center in the vertical direction of the route map is calculated. Current position mark 33b
The display position is determined so that the distance from to the name of each display target is proportional to the actual distance. In step S9, image data is generated based on the name of the display target and its display position data, and the route map is displayed on the display area 32 of the CRT 18 via the graphic controller 19.

Next, the process proceeds to step S15 in FIG. 6, where the current position of the vehicle is calculated based on the traveling distance, traveling direction, GPS signal, and the like of the vehicle, and it is determined in step S16 whether the vehicle has moved. Step S17 when the vehicle moves
If not, the process returns to step S4 in FIG. In step S17, it is determined whether or not the vehicle has arrived at the destination. When the vehicle has arrived, the execution of the program ends, and when it has not arrived, the process proceeds to step S18. In step S18, it is determined whether or not the vehicle is on the guidance route 34.
If it is above, the process returns to step S4 in FIG. 5, and if it is out of the guidance route 34, the execution of the program is ended.

FIG. 7 shows an interrupt routine for displaying target object information. Display area 3 of route map of CRT18
When the touch switch of the key 8 provided on the touch panel 2 detects that any of the display targets has been touched, the CP
An interrupt occurs in U1, and the CPU 1 executes this target object display routine. In step S21, the D-RAM 22
In step S22, the data of the detailed map and the route map currently displayed on the CRT 18 are stored in the V-RAM 20, and the data of the CRT 18 is stored. Clear the map display screen of. In step S23, data relating to the designated target is converted into image data, target information as shown in FIG. 4 is displayed on the CRT 18, and a display timer is started.

In step S24, it is determined whether or not the cancel button 35 has been pressed by the key 8, and if the cancel button 35 has been pressed, the flow proceeds to step S26, and if not, the flow proceeds to step S25. In step S25, it is determined whether or not the target being displayed has passed. If the target has passed, the process proceeds to step S26. If not, the process proceeds to step S27. In step S27, it is determined whether or not the display timer has timed out and a predetermined display time has elapsed. If the predetermined time has elapsed, the process proceeds to step S26. If not, the process returns to step S24. In step S26, the target information being displayed is deleted, and in step S28, the detailed map and the route map stored in the V-RAM 20 are returned to the CRT 18.
To be displayed.

As described above, the display screen of the CRT 18 is divided into the two display areas 31 and 32, and a detailed map displaying the current value 33 a of the vehicle and the guidance route 34 is displayed in the display area 31, and the guidance is displayed in the display area 32. Since the route 34 is represented by a straight line, and the current position 33b of the vehicle and the main target existing on the guidance route 34 in the detailed map display area 31 are displayed on the straight line, a route map is displayed. The user can check road map information other than the guide route on the detailed map without switching the display screen, and can visually recognize the guide route and information on the surroundings at a glance on the route map. Also, display area 3 of the route map
2 is provided with a touch switch, and when the touch switch corresponding to the displayed main target is operated, the CRT 18
, The detailed map and route map that are being displayed have been removed to show more detailed information about the key landmarks,
Information on major landmarks on the guidance route can be easily retrieved. Further, since the current position 33b of the vehicle and each main target in the route diagram are displayed at positions proportional to the distance along the actual guidance route 34, the positional relationship between the current position and each main target can be seen at a glance. Can be grasped. Furthermore, since the enlarged view of the intersection is displayed, and the traveling direction to the destination is notified when the enlarged view of the intersection is displayed, the course at the intersection can be understood easily and reliably.

The display areas of the detailed map and the route map on the CRT are not limited to the above-described embodiment. Further, the display mode and the display content of the target object information are not limited to the above-described embodiment.

In the configuration of the above embodiment, the CRT 18
Constitute a display means, and the CRT 18 and the speaker 10 constitute notification means.

[0023]

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to reliably provide route information at an intersection.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of one embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a display example of a detailed map and a route map.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a display example of target object information.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an example of a display processing program for a road map and a route map.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a display processing program for a road map and a route map.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a target object information display processing routine.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 CPU 2 System bus 3 Direction sensor 4 Amplifier 5 A / D converter 6, 9 I / O controller 7 Vehicle speed sensor 8 Key 10 Speaker 11 Sound generator 12 GPS receiver 13 Extended I / O 14 Receiver 15 Antenna 16 CD-ROM 17 SCSI controller 18 CRT 19 Graphic controller 20 V-RAM 21 ROM 22 D-RAM 23 Kanji ROM 24 Backup RAM 31, 32 Display area 33a, 33b Current position mark 34 Guidance route 35 Cancel button

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[Procedure amendment]

[Submission date] March 27, 2001 (2001.3.2)
7)

[Procedure amendment 1]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] Claims

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

[Claims]

[Procedure amendment 2]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0001

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

[0001]

The present invention relates to a navigation device for mounting the car.

[Procedure amendment 3]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0004

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

An object of the present invention is to display an enlarged view of an intersection .
To provide an in- vehicle navigation device .

[Procedure amendment 4]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0005

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

[0005]

[ MEANS FOR SOLVING THE PROBLEMS]
An example of the means for determining
In such a relationship that the line direction faces upward of the display device,
Displaying the guidance route with the lower part wider than the upper part
Things.

[Procedure amendment 5]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0023

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

As described above, according to the present invention, a navigation device capable of displaying an enlarged view of an intersection can be provided .

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Toru Saito 2-4991 Hironodai, Zama-shi, Kanagawa Prefecture Inside Xanavi Informatics Co., Ltd. Inside the Hitachi, Ltd.Design Research Laboratories (72) Inventor Koichi Umezawa Tokyo, Kokubunji-shi, Tokyo, 1-280 shares Intra-company Hitachi Ltd. Design Research Laboratories (72) Keiichi Yoshioka, 1-280 shares in Higashikoi, Kokubunji, Tokyo, Japan Inside the Hitachi, Ltd., Design Laboratory

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A display means for displaying a current position of a vehicle and a guidance route to a destination on a road map around the vehicle and displaying an enlarged view of an intersection, and when the enlarged view of the intersection is displayed. An in-vehicle navigation device comprising: a notifying unit that notifies a traveling direction to a destination.