JP2002267464A - Navigation system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a navigation system that can improve the visibility of a specific facility which is three-dimensionally displayed in a map image. SOLUTION: When the illumination of a vehicle is turned on, a map drawing section 14 prepares map image data using darker displaying colors. A blinking section 15 partially blinks the specific facility three-dimensionally displayed in the map image when the drawing section 14 prepares the map image data using the darker displaying colors. A specific facility extracting section 17 extracts the specific facility to be blinked by means of the blinking section 15 and outputs the extracted results to the map drawing section 14.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a navigation device for displaying a map around a vehicle position.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In general, an on-vehicle navigation device has a map display function of displaying a map around a vehicle position on a screen and a route search for searching for a route to a destination or a waypoint specified by a user. It has a function, a route guidance function for guiding the traveling of the vehicle along the route set by the route search, and the like.

[0003] In some cases, a three-dimensional map image is displayed when a vehicle is traveling in an urban area or the like.
For example, for the entire map image, a bird's-eye view display that looks down from a viewpoint position set in the sky above the vehicle,
By performing a three-dimensional display on a specific facility (for example, a high-rise building) that serves as a landmark for the driver or the like when driving, a map image close to the scenery actually seen by the driver or the like is realized. Particularly in recent years, specific facilities that are stereoscopically displayed are further subjected to a semi-transmissive process so that the map behind these specific facilities can be seen through, thereby preventing a decrease in the amount of information included in the map image. Some are out.

Some recent navigation devices change the display color of a map image between daytime and nighttime. For example, a map image using a brighter display color in the daytime and a darker display color in the nighttime is displayed.

[0005]

In the above-described conventional navigation apparatus, when a nighttime map image using a dark display color is displayed, there is a problem that it is difficult to recognize a specific facility which is stereoscopically displayed. . In particular, when the semi-transmissive processing is performed on the specific facilities that are stereoscopically displayed, the visibility of these specific facilities tends to be further reduced.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a navigation device capable of improving the visibility of a specific facility stereoscopically displayed in a map image. It is in.

[0007]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a navigation apparatus according to the present invention stores map data necessary for drawing a map image including a three-dimensional display of at least a part of a specific facility in a map data storage means. Based on the map data, a map image of a predetermined range is drawn, and at least a part of the stereoscopically displayed image of the specific facility is blinked or turned on by the map drawing means. The drawn map image is displayed by the map display means. By performing a process of blinking or lighting at least a part of the image of the specific facility, the specific facility becomes more conspicuous, so that the visibility of the specific facility stereoscopically displayed can be improved.

[0008] Further, there is further provided switching instruction means for sending, to the map drawing means, an instruction to darken the entire map image drawn by the map drawing means when the vehicle lighting is turned on. When an instruction to darken the entire image is sent, it is desirable to perform the above-described drawing processing of blinking or lighting the image of the specific facility by the map drawing means. Vehicle lighting is usually lit when the surroundings of the vehicle are dark. A process of switching the display of images and blinking or lighting at least a part of the image of the specific facility can be performed.

In the case where the above-mentioned specific facility is a building having a height higher than a designated number of floors which can be changed, an input means capable of arbitrarily inputting the designated number of floors and a designated number of floors inputted by the input means are provided. It is desirable to further include a specific facility extracting means for extracting a building. By extracting buildings having a height equal to or higher than a predetermined floor number, it is possible to prevent the number of specific facilities to be flashed or lit at least partially from being increased more than necessary, thereby preventing a map image from being difficult to see. it can. Also, in the actual scene, a building having a height of a certain number of floors or more is often turned on or blinking a red lamp or the like on a part of the building. There is also an advantage that a map image closer to the actual scenery and having a high sense of reality can be displayed by extracting.

[0010]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A navigation device according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a navigation device according to the present embodiment. The navigation device shown in FIG. 1 includes a navigation controller 1, a DVD 2, a disk reader 3, a remote control (remote control) unit 4, a vehicle position detector 5, and a display device 6.

The navigation controller 1 controls the entire operation of the navigation device. The navigation controller 1 includes a CPU, ROM, RA
The function is realized by executing a predetermined operation program using M or the like. The detailed configuration of the navigation controller 1 will be described later.

The DVD 2 is an information storage medium storing map data necessary for map display, route search, and the like.
Specifically, the DVD 2 stores map data in units of rectangular leaves divided into appropriate sizes by longitude and latitude, and the map data of each leaf specifies a leaf number. By doing so, it can be specified and read out.

The map data of each drawing includes (1) a "drawing unit" comprising various data necessary for displaying a map image;
(2) "Road unit" consisting of various data necessary for processing such as map matching, route search, and route guidance; (3)
An "intersection unit" including various data representing detailed information on the intersection is included. The drawing unit described above includes data of a background layer necessary for displaying a building or a river, and data of a character layer necessary for displaying a municipal name, a road name, and the like. Includes information on the number of floors necessary for displaying a building or the like in three dimensions.

The disk reader 3 can load one or a plurality of DVDs 2 and reads map data from any one of the DVDs 2 under the control of the navigation controller 1. The loaded disk is not necessarily a DVD, but may be a CD. Also, D
Both VD and CD may be selectively loadable.

The remote control unit 4 has various operation keys such as up / down / left / right cursor keys and numeric keys, and outputs a signal corresponding to the operation content to the navigation controller 1. The vehicle position detection unit 5 includes, for example, a GPS receiver, a direction sensor, a distance sensor, and the like, detects a vehicle position (longitude, latitude) at a predetermined timing, and outputs a detection result.

The display device 6 displays various information such as a map image around the position of the vehicle based on the image data output from the navigation controller 1.
Next, a detailed configuration of the navigation controller 1 will be described. Navigation controller 1 shown in FIG.
Is a map buffer 10, a map readout control unit 12, a map drawing unit 14, a switching instruction unit 16, a specific facility extraction unit 17, a VRA
M18, vehicle position calculation unit 20, route search processing unit 22, guidance route memory 24, guidance route drawing unit 26, input processing unit 2
8, a mark image drawing section 30, and an image synthesis section 32.

The map buffer 10 includes the disk reader 3
, The map data read from the DVD 2 is temporarily stored. The map readout control unit 12 includes a vehicle position calculation unit 2
In response to the vehicle position calculated by 0, a request from the input processing unit 28, and the like, a read request for map data in a predetermined range is output to the disk reading device 3.

The map drawing unit 14 displays a map image in which a part of a specific facility is displayed three-dimensionally based on the map data stored in the map buffer 10 and the other part is displayed in a bird's eye view. That generate data,
It is configured to include a flicker processing unit 15.

The map drawing section 14 of the present embodiment switches the display color of the map image depending on whether or not the illumination of the vehicle is turned on. Specifically, the map drawing unit 14 generates map image data using a brighter display color (display color for daytime) when the lighting is not turned on, and generates the map image data when the lighting is turned on. Darker display color (display color for night)
Is used to generate map image data.

When the map drawing unit 14 generates map image data using a darker display color, the blinking processing unit 15 is a part of an image of a specific facility that is stereoscopically displayed in the map image. (Hereinafter, this process is referred to as “blinking process”). This blinking process is performed for a building having a height equal to or higher than a predetermined number of floors specified by the user using the remote control unit 4. A display example of the map image on which the blinking process has been performed will be described later.

The switching instructing section 16 determines whether or not the illumination of the vehicle is turned on by detecting the operation state of an illumination switch (not shown) provided in the vehicle. Instruct the map drawing unit 14 to darken the entire map image by using a darker display color.

The specific facility extracting unit 17 stores the map buffer 10
Based on the map data stored in the map processing unit 15, a specific facility to be subjected to a blinking process by the blinking processing unit 15, that is, a building having a height equal to or higher than a designated floor is extracted, and the extraction result is turned on in the map drawing unit 14. Output to the unit 15. If the designated floor is not set by the user, the specific facility is extracted based on a predetermined default value (for example, “20 floor”).

The VRAM 18 temporarily stores map image data output from the map drawing unit 14. The vehicle position calculation unit 20 calculates the own vehicle position and the own vehicle direction based on the detection data output from the vehicle position detection unit 5, and when the calculated own vehicle position is not on the road of the map data, A map matching process for correcting the own vehicle position is performed.

The route search processing unit 22 searches for a traveling route that connects a departure place and a destination (or transit point) specified by a user under predetermined conditions. For example, the shortest distance,
Under various conditions such as the shortest time, a traveling route that minimizes the cost is set as the guidance route. Data (guide route data) indicating the content of the guide route set by the route search processing unit 22 is stored in the guide route memory 24.

The guide route drawing unit 26 is provided with a route search processing unit 2
2 is selected from the guidance route data stored in the guidance route memory 24 set in step 2 and included in the map drawn in the VRAM 18 at that time, and a guidance route for displaying the guidance route over the map. Generate drawing data.

The input processing unit 28 outputs a command for performing an operation corresponding to various operation instructions input from the remote control unit 4 to each unit in the navigation controller 1. The mark image drawing unit 30 generates image data for displaying a predetermined vehicle position mark at the own vehicle position after the map matching processing has been performed, or for displaying a predetermined cursor mark at the cursor position.

The image synthesizing unit 32 superimposes the map image data read from the VRAM 18 corresponding to the position of the vehicle and the image data output from the mark image drawing unit 30 to perform image synthesis. Output to the display device 6. The above-described map buffer 10 corresponds to the map data storage unit, the map drawing unit 14 corresponds to the map drawing unit, and the display device 6, the VRAM 18, and the image combining unit 32 correspond to the map display unit. Further, the switching instruction unit 16 corresponds to the switching instruction unit, the remote control unit 4 and the input processing unit 28 correspond to the input unit, and the specific facility extracting unit 17 corresponds to the specific facility extracting unit.

The navigation device of the present embodiment has such a configuration. Next, the operation of displaying a map image around the position of the vehicle will be described. FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the operation procedure of the navigation device when displaying a map image.

The map drawing section 14 determines whether or not an instruction to switch the display color of the map image has been output from the switching instruction section 16 (step 100). If the switching instruction has been output, an affirmative determination is made in step 100, and the map drawing unit 14 sets the display color of the map image for nighttime (step 101).

The specific facility extracting unit 17 extracts a building having a height equal to or higher than the designated floor based on the map data stored in the map buffer 10 (step 102).
Next, the blinking processing unit 15 in the map drawing unit 14 performs a process of blinking a part of the extracted building (blinking process) (step 103).

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the content of the blinking process performed in step 103. As shown in FIG. 3A, the building 100 included in the map image has two lamps 110 arranged on the uppermost front side, and the lamp 110 has, for example, a red display color. Is set. In this case, the blinking processing unit 15 alternately sets the display color of the lamp 110 to “dark red” and “bright red” at predetermined time intervals (for example, 0.5 seconds).

For example, assuming that a series of map image display processing shown in FIG. 2 is repeatedly performed at a cycle of 10 times per second, the blinking processing unit 15 sets the display color of the lamp 110 at the first half of the processing of 5 times per second. Is set to “dark red” and the display color of the lamp 110 is set to “dark red” during the last five processes, thereby realizing the blinking process.

FIG. 3B is a diagram showing the appearance of the lamp 110 when “brighter red” is set by drawing lines radially around the lamp 110 in a pseudo manner. Note that the line around the lamp 110 shown in FIG. 3B is for expressing “brighter red” in a pseudo manner, and is not actually drawn. As described above, the display colors of the lamps 110 are alternately set at predetermined intervals, and the map image data is generated by the map drawing unit 14 based on this setting. It can be displayed blinking.

Thereafter, the map drawing section 14 generates map image data of a predetermined range using the map data read from the map buffer 10, and stores the map image data in the VRAM 18 (step 104). Next, the image synthesizing unit 32
From 18, map image data in a range corresponding to one screen is read, combined with image data generated by the mark image drawing unit 30, and output to the display device 6. A map image is displayed on the screen of the display device 6 based on the image data output from the image combining unit 32 (Step 105). Then, step 10 described above is performed.
After returning to 0, the subsequent processing is repeated.

The display color switching instruction is given by the switching instruction unit 16.
If not output from step 10
If the determination is 0, a negative determination is made. In this case, the display color of the map image is set for daytime (step 106), and then the process proceeds to step 104 described above to display the map image.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a display example of a map image in which a part of a building is blinked. In FIG. 4, three buildings 100 (two near the center of the screen and one on the left side of the screen) are extracted as buildings having the designated number of floors or more.
A display example when the lamp 110 included in 00 is blinking is shown. Note that, in FIG.
A radial line is drawn around 0, but this line is for expressing “brighter red” in a simulated manner and is not actually drawn.

As described above, in the navigation device of the present embodiment, when displaying a map image for night use, a building having a height equal to or higher than a predetermined number of floors is extracted, and a part of the building is blinked. Since the processing is performed, the visibility of the specific facility that is stereoscopically displayed can be improved. In particular, since only buildings having a height equal to or higher than a predetermined number of floors are extracted as specific facilities to be flashed,
The number of specific facilities to be blinked is increased more than necessary,
There is an advantage that it is possible to prevent the map image from being difficult to see, and it is possible to display a map image that is closer to the real scene and more realistic.

Note that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications can be made within the scope of the present invention. For example, in the embodiment described above,
Although the lamp 110 which is a part of the building 100 is blinking, the lamp 110 may be turned on. In this case, the blinking process for alternately setting the display color of the lamp 110 is not required, so that the process can be simplified.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the lamp 110 disposed on the front side of the uppermost part of the building 100 is subjected to the blinking process. However, the subject of the blinking process is not limited to this. Various modifications are also conceivable.
For example, in the building 100, a portion corresponding to the window glass may be turned on or off. Further, the entire building 100 may be blinked.
May be set to a brighter display color (that is, “lit”).

In the above-described embodiment, the switching instruction unit 1
The switching instruction 6 is performed based on the operation state of the lighting switch of the vehicle, but the switching instruction may be performed based on time. In this case, there is an advantage that wiring or the like for detecting the operation state of the lighting switch is not required.

[0041]

As described above, according to the present invention, when displaying a map image including a three-dimensional display of a specific facility, a process of blinking or lighting at least a part of the image of the specific facility is performed. The specific facility becomes more conspicuous, and the visibility of the specific facility that is stereoscopically displayed can be improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a navigation device according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing an operation procedure of the navigation device when displaying a map image.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the details of a blinking process performed in step 103;

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a display example of a map image in which a part of a building is blinked.

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 navigation controller 4 remote control (remote control) unit 6 display device 10 map buffer 12 map readout control unit 14 map drawing unit 15 blink processing unit 16 switching instruction unit 17 specific facility extraction unit 18 VRAM 28 input processing unit 32 image synthesis unit

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page F term (reference) 2C032 HB02 HB05 HB22 HC08 HC15 HC22 HC23 HD03 HD16 HD30 2F029 AA02 AB01 AB07 AC02 AC04 AC06 AC14 5B050 AA10 BA07 BA09 BA17 CA07 EA19 EA27 FA02 FA17 5H180 AA01 BB13 FF05 FF03

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A map data storage means for storing map data necessary for drawing a map image including a stereoscopic display of at least a part of a specific facility, and drawing the map image in a predetermined range based on the map data. And map display means for blinking or lighting at least a part of the image of the specific facility displayed in three dimensions, and map display means for displaying the map image drawn by the map drawing means. Navigation device. 2. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a switching instruction unit configured to send an instruction to darken the entire map image drawn by the map drawing unit to the map drawing unit when the vehicle lighting is turned on. Wherein the map drawing means performs drawing processing for blinking or lighting the image of the specific facility when an instruction to darken the entire map image is sent from the switching instruction means. . 3. The specific facility according to claim 1, wherein the specific facility is a building having a height higher than or equal to a designated floor which can be changed, and input means for arbitrarily inputting the designated floor, and inputting by the input means. A specific facility extracting means for extracting a building having the designated floor number specified.