JP2007108326A - Portable map display device and method thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

A user who does not have a dedicated holding device can also obtain accurate navigation information and use it effectively.
A front direction calculation unit calculates a front direction of a terminal. The traveling azimuth calculation unit 22 is directed toward which direction the traveling direction of the mobile device is based on the mobile device movement direction information from the movement direction detection unit 12 and the terminal front direction information from the front direction calculation unit 21. Get information about. The selection unit 23 selects the direction information obtained from the front direction calculation unit 21 when it is determined that the mobile device is held by a pedestrian based on the information from the terminal movement state detection unit 13. When it is determined that the portable device is in a vehicle-mounted state, the direction information from the traveling direction detection unit 22 is selected and passed to the calculation unit 25. The calculation unit 25 reads the map information stored in the storage unit 24, processes the map information based on the display orientation information from the selection unit 23 and the latitude / longitude information acquired by the GPS 33, and sends the map information to the display unit 29. .
[Selection] Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a portable map display device and a method thereof, and more particularly to a portable device that can be used as a walking navigation device with a built-in direction detection unit such as a geomagnetic sensor and an acceleration detection unit such as an acceleration sensor. The present invention relates to a portable map display device that is brought into a car and used as a simple car navigation device and a method thereof.

  In recent years, small portable devices having a GPS function typified by mobile phones have been actively developed. Using these devices, walking in conjunction with a GPS device for knowing the current location of a portable device and an application for displaying map information held in an internal storage device or distribution map information from a mobile phone network, etc. Navigation for the user.

  Some portable devices that provide a walking navigation function for pedestrians are equipped with an orientation detection device such as a geomagnetic sensor in order to match the front direction of the pedestrian and the display of the map. Some of them are also equipped with an acceleration detection device such as an acceleration sensor to detect the posture of the portable device.

  In this case, the upward direction of the display unit when the mobile device is placed horizontally is regarded as the front direction in which the user is facing the front, and the orientation of the front direction is detected by the orientation detection means in the mobile device. The map is calculated and drawn based on the front direction of the user assuming that the direction is the front direction of the user. That is, the normal map is drawn with the north direction as the upward direction of the display unit. However, for example, when the user looks at the screen facing the east, the map is drawn by rotating it 90 degrees counterclockwise. Thereby, the user can easily recognize the terrain because the direction in which the user is facing matches the direction in which the map is displayed.

  Here, when the mobile device is not horizontal (usually, the user is holding the mobile device and looking at the display unit, and the mobile device is rather in a horizontal state because it is tilted slightly), the acceleration sensor Thus, by knowing the tilt angle of the portable device, it is possible to know the front orientation of the user by performing a tilt angle correction operation on the geomagnetic vector obtained from the geomagnetic sensor. In the case of navigation for pedestrians, unlike a vehicle-mounted case described later, if the map is rotated and displayed so as to coincide with the front direction of the pedestrian instead of the traveling direction, it is easy for the user to use.

  On the other hand, a system is also known which is used as a simple car navigation device by bringing these portable devices into a car and installing them in a dedicated holding device. This is to calculate the direction of movement of the mobile device from the time change of the position information of the mobile device obtained from GPS, and to calculate the map based on the estimated direction of travel of the vehicle by estimating it as the direction of travel of the vehicle. Drawing is performed, and navigation information such as distances to several target points on the route and directions of travel by arrows is displayed on the screen for a route to a preset destination.

  Here, in the case of such in-vehicle use, when the automobile is moving at a certain moving speed or more, the moving direction can be obtained with high accuracy using GPS, but when the moving speed is low, for example, at an intersection Even if it is possible to estimate the direction of movement using GPS, such as when the car stops at a corner, turns around an intersection, makes a U-turn, or when the user starts driving a car, The accuracy is not high. Therefore, in such a case, conventionally, it has been necessary to install the portable device in the dedicated holding device so that the front direction of the portable device matches the traveling direction of the automobile.

JP 2000-339443 A

  However, when attaching a portable device to a dedicated holding device, conventionally, for example, when the holding device itself has a GPS function or connected to a high-gain vehicle antenna, that is, when the GPS function is not built in the portable device. In recent years, there has been no dedicated holding device suitable for cellular phones, PDAs, etc. with a built-in GPS function. For this reason, when installing a commercially available simple portable device holding device in an automobile or attaching it to a vehicle, for example, in a passenger seat without being attached to the holding device and stopping at an intersection, the distance to the next target point or It can be used to check driving information such as going straight and turning left and right. In this case, for example, the portable device may be facing sideways with respect to the traveling direction of the automobile, that is, the upward direction of the display unit may not match the traveling direction of the automobile. In that case, for the display of the map, the direction of the upward direction of the display unit of the portable device is detected and the map is displayed with the direction as the front direction, and for navigation information, a route instruction is given based on the traveling direction of the vehicle. If the mobile device is directed sideways and goes straight ahead at the next intersection, the map on the mobile device display screen will appear as if it is giving a left turn instruction. This is an easy-to-understand instruction for the driver.

  In portable devices, the character information such as the name of the mark or navigation information and the map are displayed in an overlapping manner. In this case, the map is displayed so that the direction of the car is the upper direction of the screen. Although it is natural, the map is displayed in a direction different from the traveling direction. As a result, there is a problem in that the navigation information shown on the screen of the mobile device becomes inaccurate information.

  In view of the above problems, the present invention provides accurate navigation information display even when a mobile device is brought into a vehicle and used as a simple navigation device, even if the traveling direction does not coincide with the front direction of the mobile phone. The purpose is to provide the technology that enables it.

  In order to achieve such an object, the invention described in claim 1 is a portable map display device that accesses a map information database storing map information and obtains desired map information. Means, position detecting means for detecting the position of the apparatus, front direction calculating means for calculating the front direction indicating which direction the front direction of the apparatus is, and which direction the traveling direction of the apparatus is Traveling direction calculation means for calculating the traveling direction shown, and applied direction selection means for selecting a reference direction to be applied as a reference for determining an angle of the map with respect to the display when the map is displayed on the display, as either the front direction or the traveling direction And the map information in a predetermined range centered on the position detected by the position detection means acquired by the map information access means and the selected reference azimuth and location And by a rotation transform the difference between the reference orientation is characterized in that a display means for displaying on the display.

  A second aspect of the present invention is the portable map display device according to the first aspect, wherein the user is in a state of using the device while walking or using the device in a vehicle. Use state determining means for determining whether the vehicle is in the vehicle, and the application direction selecting means selects the traveling direction as the reference direction when the use state determining means determines that the vehicle is being used in the vehicle. It is characterized by.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the portable map display device according to the first or second aspect, the user is in a state of using the device while walking or using the device in a vehicle. When it is determined that the user is in a state where the user is walking while carrying the device by the use state determination unit, the application direction selection unit is further provided with a use state determination unit that determines whether or not A front azimuth is selected as the reference azimuth.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the portable map display device according to the second or third aspect of the invention, the use state determining unit acquires a change in position at a predetermined time interval by the position detecting unit, and detects the change in position. A moving speed is calculated, and when the moving speed exceeds a predetermined speed, it is determined that the vehicle is being used in the vehicle.

  A fifth aspect of the present invention is the portable map display device according to any one of the first to fourth aspects, further comprising a geomagnetic sensor that detects the magnetic field of the earth and outputs the direction of the magnetic field, Is characterized in that the front direction is calculated from the direction of the magnetic field output by the geomagnetic sensor and the front direction of the apparatus.

  A sixth aspect of the present invention is the portable map display device according to any one of the first to fifth aspects, further comprising an acceleration sensor for detecting an acceleration when the device moves, wherein the traveling direction calculation means includes an acceleration The traveling direction is calculated from the velocity direction obtained by integrating the output of the sensor and the front direction of the apparatus.

  According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the portable map display device according to the sixth aspect of the present invention, the use state determining means is an acceleration smaller than a predetermined acceleration on a plane perpendicular to gravity by the output of the acceleration sensor. When the acceleration and deceleration are repeated, it is determined that the vehicle is being used in the vehicle.

  According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, in the portable map display device according to the sixth or seventh aspect of the present invention, when the output of the acceleration sensor shows a predetermined periodic vibration characteristic during walking, the use state determining means is a user. Is determined to be in a state where the device is being used while walking.

  The invention according to claim 9 is the portable map display device according to any one of claims 1 to 8, further comprising a gyro sensor that detects an angular velocity as a change in the orientation of the device, and the traveling direction calculation means includes a gyro sensor It is characterized in that an azimuth change is obtained by integrating an angular velocity component that is an output of the sensor.

  According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, in the portable map display device according to any one of the first to eighth aspects, the traveling direction calculating means moves in the direction of movement from the immediately preceding position and the current position obtained by the position detecting means. Is calculated as a traveling direction.

  The invention according to claim 11 is a display method by a portable map display device, wherein a map information access step for obtaining desired map information by accessing a map information database storing map information, and a position of the device A position detecting step to detect, a front direction calculating step for calculating a front direction indicating which direction the front direction of the apparatus is located, and a progress for calculating a traveling direction indicating which direction the apparatus is traveling By an azimuth calculation step, an application azimuth selection step that selects either a front azimuth or a traveling azimuth as a reference for determining an angle with respect to the map display when the map is displayed on the display, and a map information access step The selected map information in a predetermined range centered on the position detected by the position detection step is acquired. And rotational transformation by the difference between the quasi-orientation and the reference orientation map, characterized in that a display step of displaying on the display.

  A twelfth aspect of the present invention is the display method of the portable map display device according to the eleventh aspect, wherein the user is in a state of using the device while walking around the device or using the device in a vehicle. A use state determination step for determining whether the vehicle is in a state in which the application direction selection step determines that the vehicle is in use in the vehicle by the use state determination step. It is characterized by selecting.

  A thirteenth aspect of the present invention is the display method by the portable map display device according to the eleventh or twelfth aspect, wherein the user is in the state of using the device while walking or in the vehicle. It further includes a use state determination step for determining whether the user is in use, and the application orientation selection step is determined to be in a state where the user is using the device while walking with the use state determination step. In this case, the front direction is selected as the reference direction.

  According to a fourteenth aspect of the present invention, in the display method using the portable map display device according to the twelfth or thirteenth aspect, the use state determining step acquires a change in position at a predetermined time interval by the position detecting step. The moving speed is calculated from the change of the above, and when the moving speed exceeds a predetermined speed, it is determined that the vehicle is being used in the vehicle.

  According to a fifteenth aspect of the present invention, in the display method using the portable map display device according to any of the eleventh to fourteenth aspects, the front orientation calculation step detects the earth's magnetic field and outputs the direction of the magnetic field. The front direction is calculated from the direction of the magnetic field output from the sensor and the front direction of the apparatus.

  According to a sixteenth aspect of the present invention, in the display method using the portable map display device according to any one of the eleventh to fifteenth aspects, the advancing direction calculating step outputs an acceleration sensor that detects acceleration when the device moves. The traveling azimuth is calculated from the velocity direction obtained by integrating and the front direction of the apparatus.

  According to a seventeenth aspect of the present invention, in the display method using the portable map display device according to the sixteenth aspect, the use state determining step is performed based on a predetermined acceleration on a plane perpendicular to gravity by the output of the acceleration sensor. When acceleration and deceleration are repeated with a small acceleration, it is determined that the vehicle is in use.

  According to an eighteenth aspect of the present invention, in the display method using the portable map display device according to the sixteenth or seventeenth aspect, in the use state determining step, the output of the acceleration sensor shows a predetermined periodic vibration characteristic during walking. Sometimes, it is determined that the user is in a state of using the device while walking.

  According to a nineteenth aspect of the present invention, in the display method using the portable map display device according to any one of the eleventh to eighteenth aspects, the traveling direction calculation step includes an output of a gyro sensor that detects an angular velocity as a change in the orientation of the device. The azimuth change is acquired by integrating the angular velocity component.

  According to the twentieth aspect of the present invention, in the display method by the portable map display device according to any one of the eleventh to eighteenth aspects, the traveling direction calculation step is a moving direction from the previous position and the current position by the position detection step. Is calculated as a traveling direction.

  As described above, according to the present invention, the application direction selection means for selecting the reference direction to be applied as a reference for determining the angle of the map with respect to the display when the map is displayed on the display, as either the front direction or the traveling direction. And a display obtained by rotating and converting the difference between the selected reference azimuth and the reference azimuth of the map, which is obtained by the map information access means and having a predetermined range of map information centered on the position detected by the position detecting means. Means for detecting the advancing direction of a car and displaying navigation information such as a map display and a direction instruction for the advancing direction, so that even a user who does not have a dedicated holding device can accurately navigate Information can be usefully used.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
(First embodiment)
FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an apparatus inside the portable device according to the present embodiment. In FIG. 1, the mobile device includes a sensor unit 30, an orientation detection unit 11, a movement direction detection unit 12, a terminal movement state detection unit 13 that detects a terminal state such as whether the owner of the mobile device is walking or riding a car, An azimuth calculation unit 20 and a display unit 29 are provided. Each of the detection units performs detection processing using the sensor acquisition information from the sensor unit 30. In the present embodiment, the detection processing is performed using the following sensor acquisition information.

  An example of the portable device used in this embodiment is shown in FIG. FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a portable device according to an embodiment of the present invention. In addition to the display unit 29, keypad (not shown), and CPU (not shown) included in a normal portable terminal, the portable device 51 includes various sensor units used in the present embodiment, that is, the geomagnetic sensor 31, the GPS 33, and the acceleration. A sensor is provided. Based on the output from each of these sensor units, various detection units and calculation units not shown in FIG. 5 perform predetermined processing to implement this embodiment.

(System configuration)
The azimuth detecting unit 11 calculates the geomagnetic azimuth in the upper surface direction of the mobile terminal, that is, the upward direction of the display unit, based on the geomagnetic information acquired by the geomagnetic sensor 31 and the acceleration information acquired by the acceleration sensor 32. Terminal orientation information and terminal attitude information are acquired. The moving direction detection unit 12 calculates in which direction the mobile device has moved from the information on the acceleration received by the mobile device acquired by the acceleration sensor 32. The terminal movement state detection unit 13 estimates a terminal state such as whether the owner of the mobile device is walking or riding in a car from the acceleration information received by the mobile device acquired by the acceleration sensor 32.

  The azimuth calculation unit 20 includes a front azimuth calculation unit 21, a traveling azimuth calculation unit 22, a selection unit 23, a storage unit 24, and a calculation unit 25, and controls / calculates a portable device. The front azimuth calculation unit 21 calculates the front azimuth of the terminal using the terminal azimuth information and the tilt information from the azimuth detection unit 11 and the terminal status detection unit 14. For example, when the mobile phone is a foldable type and the geomagnetic sensor 31 and the acceleration sensor 32 are installed on the terminal screen side, the traveling direction calculation unit 22 does not change the moving direction even if the terminal is folded. From the mobile device movement direction information from the detection unit 12 and the terminal front direction information from the front direction calculation unit 21, information on which direction the traveling direction of the mobile device is traveling can be obtained.

  Based on the information from the terminal movement state detection unit 13, the selection unit 23 selects the direction information obtained from the front direction calculation unit 21 when it is determined that the mobile device is held by a pedestrian, When it is determined that the device is in a vehicle-mounted state, the direction information from the traveling direction detection unit 22 is selected and passed to the calculation unit 25.

  The calculation unit 25 reads the map information stored in the storage unit 24, and also displays the display orientation of FIG. 1 based on the display orientation information from the selection unit 23 and the latitude / longitude information acquired by the sensor unit 30, particularly the GPS 33. The map information is processed so that the information side is on the upper side of the screen, and sent to the display unit 29. Here, in the present embodiment, the map information is stored in the storage unit 24, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the map information can also be stored in an external storage device or the like. In this case, it is possible to provide a map information access unit (not shown) and obtain the map information via this.

  The geomagnetic sensor 31 may be anything that can obtain necessary information for calculating the geomagnetic direction, but it is desirable that the magnetic component of two axes or three or more axes can be detected. The acceleration sensor 32 may be anything that can obtain the necessary information for calculating the tilt of the mobile device, the moving direction, and the terminal state, but it is desirable that the acceleration sensor can detect two or more axes of acceleration components. .

(System processing)
Next, a series of processing in this embodiment will be described in more detail. When a user is walking with a mobile device in hand, it is natural for the mobile device to detect the frontal orientation of the pedestrian and rotate the map so that the orientation matches the orientation of the map. is there. That is, if the front direction of the pedestrian is south, the map is rotated so that the north side is the front side or the lower side of the mobile terminal screen, and the character information on the map is not rotated on the mobile device screen. In this way, it can be displayed correctly.

  For this reason, the geomagnetic sensor 31 in the portable device detects the geomagnetism, the acceleration sensor 32 detects the acceleration, and the azimuth detecting unit 11 determines the geomagnetic azimuth of the portable device, for example, the apex surface, from the information of both. Then, the inclination angle of the mobile terminal is calculated. Based on this information, the front orientation calculation unit 21 calculates the front orientation of the user of the mobile terminal. For example, when the user holds the mobile terminal in a horizontal state, the apex direction (upward) of the mobile terminal is set as the front orientation, and when the user holds the mobile terminal upright instead of in the horizontal state, the bottom direction (downward), that is, display The direction opposite to the part is calculated as the front direction.

  The terminal movement state detection unit 13 processes the output information of the acceleration sensor 32 to determine that the user carrying the mobile device is in a walking state when a periodic vibration peculiar to walking is detected. To do. As such a periodic vibration, for example, a vibration that moves up and down at regular intervals as shown in FIG. 6 can be considered. Based on the information from the terminal movement state detection unit 13, the selection unit 23 sends information output from the front orientation calculation unit 21 to the calculation unit 25 as display orientation information. The calculation unit 25 specifies the map data to be displayed and the display position based on the latitude / longitude information received and calculated by the GPS 33 and reads the map data from the storage unit 24. That is, a predetermined area centered on a point indicated by latitude / longitude information is specified, and map information of the area is read out, while the display direction of the map is rotated based on the display orientation information, and image information to be displayed The data is sent to the display unit 29.

  In this way, when the user is walking with the portable device in hand, a map that matches the front direction of the pedestrian is displayed on the screen.

  FIG. 2 shows a screen display when a pedestrian has a mobile terminal in this way, and when the front direction of the pedestrian is different as shown in FIG. 2 (a) and FIG. 2 (b), The map displayed on the screen is also displayed after being subjected to rotation processing as shown in FIGS. 2C and 2D in accordance with the front direction.

  Next, the operation when the user brings the portable device into the car and fixes it to a holding device (not shown) will be described. In this case, when the map is displayed on the screen of the mobile device, it is natural to display the map by rotating it according to the traveling direction of the automobile. Here, as the holding device, any system can be used as long as the mobile device can be fixedly connected to the inside of the vehicle. As shown in FIG. 3A, some portable device holding devices fix the portable device so that the front direction of the portable device and the front direction of the automobile coincide with each other. In order to make it difficult to see, it is possible to devise a holding device (not shown) having a function of rotating the portable device so that the screen faces the driver.

  FIG. 3B shows a conceptual diagram when a holding device that can easily adjust the screen of the mobile device is used. In such a case, the front direction of the mobile device does not always coincide with the traveling direction of the automobile, the mobile device detects its own traveling direction, calculates the traveling direction from the front direction of the portable device, and displays it. Become. That is, the geomagnetic sensor 31 in the portable device detects the geomagnetism, the acceleration sensor 32 detects the acceleration, and the azimuth detecting unit 11 detects the apex surface of the portable device (for example, the upward direction of the display unit) from the information of both. ) And the inclination angle of the mobile terminal. Based on this information, the front orientation calculation unit 21 calculates the front orientation of the user of the mobile terminal.

  The terminal movement state detection unit 13 processes the output from the acceleration sensor 32, and detects that the mobile device repeats smooth acceleration and deceleration in a direction perpendicular to gravity, the mobile device is in a vehicle-mounted state. judge. That is, as shown in FIG. 7, when a certain surface is accelerated and decelerated at an acceleration smaller than a predetermined acceleration, it is determined that the vehicle is in a vehicle-mounted state. The movement direction detection unit 12 processes the output information of the acceleration sensor 32, integrates an acceleration component perpendicular to gravity to obtain a movement speed component, and uses the direction in which the movement speed is large as the terminal movement direction. The mobile device traveling direction information is calculated from the front direction information of the mobile device from the front direction calculation unit 21 and the terminal movement direction information. Since the portable device is fixed in the vehicle, the traveling direction of the portable device calculated here coincides with the traveling direction of the automobile.

  The selection unit 23 selects portable device traveling direction information based on the information from the terminal movement state detection unit 13 and sends it to the calculation unit 25 as display direction information. The calculation unit 25 specifies the map data to be displayed and the display position based on the latitude / longitude information received and calculated by the GPS 33, and reads the map data from the storage unit 24. On the other hand, the map data is rotated so as to draw a map by changing the display direction based on the display orientation information, and sent to the display unit 29 as image information to be displayed.

  As described above, when the user brings the portable device into the vehicle and is fixed to the holding device as shown in FIG. 3A, a map that matches the traveling direction of the portable device, that is, the traveling direction of the vehicle is displayed on the screen. . This is shown in FIG. Here, as shown in FIG. 3B, when the driver operates the holding device of the portable device and faces the driver side so that the screen is easy to see, the front direction obtained by only the geomagnetic direction is used as a reference. If the map is calculated and drawn as shown in FIG. 3 (d), a map corresponding to the front direction of the terminal is displayed unlike the front direction of the automobile. A map display such as e) can be obtained.

  Further, in this embodiment, when periodic vibration peculiar to walking is seen in the output from the acceleration sensor 32, the mobile device repeats smooth acceleration and deceleration in a direction perpendicular to gravity when walking. When it is detected that the vehicle is in-vehicle, the acceleration sensor output is analyzed from a different viewpoint to distinguish between walking and in-vehicle. Such a case is clearly included in the scope of the present invention.

(Second Embodiment)
In the first embodiment, information from the geomagnetic sensor 31 and information from the acceleration sensor 32 are used for detection by the azimuth detecting unit 11, and detection by the moving direction detecting unit 12 and the terminal moving state detecting unit 13 is performed. Although the example using the information from the acceleration sensor 32 has been described, it is possible to detect the direction, movement, and terminal state information by a completely different method. Hereinafter, a second preferred embodiment of the present invention using these different methods will be described.

  In the present embodiment, a method different from the first embodiment will be described. However, the configuration of each detection unit is not limited to this. In addition, it is obvious that mixing and combining the sensor information described in the first embodiment and the sensor information of the second embodiment does not depart from the scope of the present invention.

  In the present embodiment, the azimuth detecting unit 11 detects the angular velocity component using a gyro sensor (not shown), and utilizes the fact that the angular change can be detected by integrating the angular velocity component, so that the moving direction detecting unit immediately before is detected. 12 detects a relative azimuth change from the terminal moving azimuth detected by the terminal 12. At this time, it is preferable to obtain a plane perpendicular to gravity using the acceleration sensor 32 and detect an angular velocity component on the plane. Therefore, the gyro sensor may be a single-axis detection product that detects a component of a plane perpendicular to gravity, but a gyro sensor having two or three axes that can detect a component of a plane perpendicular to gravity regardless of a fixed angle is more suitable. preferable.

  The movement direction detection unit 12 detects the movement direction of the terminal from the time change of the latitude / longitude information detected by the GPS 33. Although the absolute direction of the moving direction can be known with the GPS 33, the short-term change is not known. Therefore, the absolute direction of the moving direction immediately before is obtained with the GPS 33, and the short-term direction change is obtained from the signal from the gyro sensor. Calculate the bearing.

  In addition, the terminal movement state detection unit 13 obtains the movement speed from the time change of the latitude and longitude by the GPS 33. For example, when it is detected that the terminal is moving at a speed of 5 km / h or more, it is in a state where it is installed in the automobile. Otherwise, it is determined that it is during walking.

  Using the information input to each unit as described above, the azimuth calculation unit 20 can calculate and display the screen display information as in the first embodiment.

(Third embodiment)
In the said 1st and 2nd embodiment, although demonstrated in the example which displays a map in a portable apparatus, the example of the navigation which displays the arrow which shows the advancing direction is demonstrated in this embodiment. The configuration of the apparatus is almost the same as that described in the first embodiment. The azimuth detecting unit 11 calculates the terminal azimuth based on the output information of the geomagnetic sensor 31 and the acceleration sensor 32, and the front azimuth calculating unit 22 is based on the terminal azimuth information and the information from the terminal status detecting unit 14. Calculate the bearing.

  The terminal movement state detection unit 13 processes the acceleration sensor output, and when a periodic vibration peculiar to walking is detected, it is determined that the user holding the portable device is in a walking state, and the portable device is When smooth acceleration and deceleration are repeated in a direction perpendicular to gravity, it is determined that the vehicle is in the on-vehicle state.

  The movement direction detection unit 12 calculates the movement direction information of the terminal from the time change of the latitude and longitude information detected by the GPS 33, and calculates the terminal movement direction based on the terminal coordinate system. The travel direction calculation unit 22 calculates mobile device travel direction information from the front direction information of the mobile device and the terminal movement direction information sent from the front direction calculation unit 21. When it is determined that the pedestrian has the portable device based on the information from the terminal movement state detection unit, the selection unit 23 selects the front azimuth information as the display azimuth information, and the portable device is in the in-vehicle state. Selects the traveling direction information as the display direction information and sends it to the calculation unit 25. The calculation unit 25 specifies the map data to be displayed and the display position based on the latitude and longitude information received and calculated by the GPS 33, calls the map data from the storage unit, and changes the display direction based on the display orientation information. The map is rotated to draw a map. On the other hand, navigation information is received from the communication unit 26, and the received information, for example, a direction of travel, is sent to the display unit 29 as image information to be displayed superimposed on a map.

  As shown in FIG. 4B when the vehicle is mounted, when the mobile device is on the front passenger seat or the like and is in a horizontal direction with respect to the traveling direction of the vehicle, first, the front direction based on the geomagnetic information as the screen display direction When only is used, the following processing is performed. That is, when the vehicle traveling direction matches the terminal front direction in the holding device, since the traveling direction information and the geomagnetic direction information match, the map displayed on the screen becomes the actual vehicle traveling direction. Therefore, even if the route instruction information is displayed as the navigation information, the instruction content is consistent with the map orientation on the screen as shown in FIG.

  However, since the mobile device is sideways with respect to the moving direction of the automobile, the direction in which the map is drawn is displayed so that the horizontal direction of the mobile phone matches the traveling direction. Here, the navigation instruction, which is navigation information, is displayed as if the mobile terminal is in a normal posture regardless of the direction of screen drawing. An arrow is displayed (in the upward direction on the screen). In such a case, the user may be confused because the orientation drawn on the map and the navigation information do not match, and a good feeling of use cannot be obtained.

  In the present embodiment, since the screen display orientation is based on the traveling orientation based on the front orientation and the moving direction, the moving direction and the geomagnetic orientation (see FIG. (In the example shown in FIG. 4), it can be seen that the map is shifted by approximately 90 degrees, so that the map is further rotated by approximately 90 degrees from the geomagnetic direction and displayed in accordance with the traveling direction, and the map direction and navigation information ( In this case, it is displayed in agreement with the direction instruction by the arrow, and the user is not confused.

  As mentioned above, although the suitable Example for implementing this invention has been demonstrated, as shown in these embodiment, the direction detection part 11, the movement direction detection part 12, the terminal condition detection part 14, and the terminal movement state in a sensor part Various detectors 13 are conceivable. However, the difference in the configuration of the sensor and the detection unit and the quality and behavior of the sensor signal based on the detection are not related to the essence of the present invention, and the operation and effect do not depend on which is the sensor unit. It is obvious.

  Therefore, the terminal state detection unit 13 not only determines the state based on the output from the sensor unit as described in the above embodiment, but the user simply selects the walking mode and the on-vehicle mode by selecting a button or menu. It can also be made to select. In addition, there is a method of detecting that the vehicle is in a vehicle-mounted state when connected to a device unique to the vehicle such as a portable device holding device or a dedicated display screen for vehicle mounting.

  Furthermore, as a method of detecting the walking state, other than the above-described method of detecting the period specific to walking by the acceleration sensor signal, calculating the average speed at the time of movement, and the like, the pattern of azimuth change and geomagnetic change It is also possible to use a method of detecting the above and determining from the information.

  The detection of the moving direction is not limited to the acceleration sensor 32 and the GPS 33, and various methods such as information from the outside such as a radio signal and magnetic marking, map matching, and image input by a camera are possible. Similarly, in addition to the geomagnetism and the gyro sensor, the direction detection unit 11 may be a method using the steering angle information of the automobile. Furthermore, it should be noted that the use of various methods not currently used or not known is within the scope of the present invention as long as it is used to detect the above information.

It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the apparatus inside the portable apparatus in this embodiment. It is a figure which shows a screen display when the pedestrian of one Embodiment of this invention has a portable terminal. It is a figure which shows the screen display in the case of using the portable terminal of one Embodiment of this invention in a motor vehicle. It is a figure which shows the screen display in the case of using the portable terminal of one Embodiment of this invention in a motor vehicle. It is a block diagram which shows the portable apparatus of one Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the output of the acceleration sensor at the time of the walk of one Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the output of the acceleration sensor at the time of vehicle mounting of one Embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 Direction detection part 12 Movement direction detection part 13 Terminal movement state detection part 20 Direction calculation part 21 Front direction calculation part 22 Traveling direction calculation part 23 Selection part 24 Storage part 25 Calculation part 29 Display part 30 Sensor part 31 Geomagnetic sensor 33 GPS
51 Mobile devices

Claims (20)

Map information access means for accessing a map information database storing map information and obtaining desired map information;
Position detecting means for detecting the position of the device;
A front direction calculating means for calculating a front direction indicating which direction the front direction of the apparatus is in;
A traveling direction calculation means for calculating a traveling direction indicating which direction the traveling direction of the apparatus is;
Application direction selection means for selecting a reference direction to be applied as a reference for determining an angle with respect to the display of the map when the map is displayed on the display, as either the front direction or the traveling direction;
The map information in a predetermined range centered on the position detected by the position detection means acquired by the map information access means is rotationally converted by the difference between the selected reference orientation and the reference orientation of the map and displayed on the display. A portable map display device. It further comprises use state determining means for determining whether the user is in a state of using the device while walking or using the device in the vehicle,
The said application direction selection means selects the advancing direction as said reference | standard azimuth | direction, when it determines with being in the state currently used in the vehicle by the said use condition determination means. Portable map display device. It further comprises use state determining means for determining whether the user is in a state of using the device while walking or using the device in the vehicle,
The application azimuth selecting unit selects the front azimuth as the reference azimuth when the use state determination unit determines that the user is using the device while walking. The portable map display device according to claim 1 or 2.   The use state determination means obtains a change in position at a predetermined time interval by the position detection means, calculates a moving speed from the change in position, and is used in a vehicle when the moving speed exceeds a predetermined speed. The portable map display device according to claim 2, wherein the portable map display device is determined to be in a state of being performed. It further comprises a geomagnetic sensor that detects the earth's magnetic field and outputs the direction of the magnetic field,
5. The portable map display device according to claim 1, wherein the front direction calculation unit calculates the front direction based on a direction of a magnetic field output from the geomagnetic sensor. An acceleration sensor for detecting acceleration when the device moves;
6. The traveling azimuth calculating means calculates the traveling azimuth based on a speed direction obtained by integrating the output of the acceleration sensor and a front direction of the apparatus. Portable map display device.   The use state determining means is in use when the device repeats acceleration and deceleration at an acceleration smaller than a predetermined acceleration on a plane perpendicular to gravity by the output of the acceleration sensor. The portable map display device according to claim 6, wherein the portable map display device is determined.   The use state determination means determines that the user is in a state of using the device while walking while carrying the device when the output of the acceleration sensor shows a predetermined periodic vibration peculiar to walking. The portable map display device according to claim 6 or 7. It further includes a gyro sensor that detects an angular velocity as a change in the orientation of the device,
The portable map display device according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the traveling azimuth calculating unit acquires an azimuth change by integrating an angular velocity component that is an output of a gyro sensor.   9. The traveling azimuth calculating unit according to claim 1, wherein the traveling azimuth calculating unit calculates a moving direction from the immediately preceding position and the current position obtained by the position detecting unit to obtain the traveling azimuth. Portable map display device. A map information access step for obtaining desired map information by accessing a map information database storing map information;
A position detecting step for detecting the position of the device;
A front azimuth calculating step for calculating a front azimuth indicating which direction the front direction of the apparatus is in;
A traveling direction calculation step for calculating a traveling direction indicating which direction the traveling direction of the apparatus is;
An application direction selection step of selecting a reference direction to be applied as a reference for determining an angle with respect to the display of the map when the map is displayed on the display, from the front direction and the traveling direction;
The map information in the predetermined range centered on the position detected by the position detection step acquired by the map information access step is rotationally converted by the difference between the selected reference direction and the reference direction of the map and displayed on the display. A display method using a portable map display device, comprising: a display step. A use state determination step of determining whether the user is in a state of using the device while walking with the device or in a vehicle;
12. The application azimuth selection step selects the traveling azimuth as the reference azimuth when the use state determination step determines that the vehicle is being used in a vehicle. A display method using a portable map display device. A use state determination step of determining whether the user is in a state of using the device while walking with the device or in a vehicle;
The application azimuth selecting step selects the front azimuth as the reference azimuth when it is determined in the use state determination step that the user is using the device while walking. The display method by the portable map display device according to claim 11 or 12.   The use state determination step acquires a change in position at a predetermined time interval by the position detection step, calculates a movement speed from the change in position, and is used in a vehicle when the movement speed exceeds a predetermined speed. The display method by the portable map display device according to claim 12 or 13, wherein it is determined that the portable map display device is in a state in which the mobile map is displayed.   15. The front azimuth calculating step calculates the front azimuth according to the direction of a magnetic field output from a geomagnetic sensor that detects the earth's magnetic field and outputs the direction of the magnetic field. Display method using portable map display device.   The advancing direction calculating step calculates the advancing direction based on a speed direction obtained by integrating an output of an acceleration sensor that detects an acceleration when the apparatus moves, and a front direction of the apparatus. Item 16. A display method using the portable map display device according to any one of Items 11 to 15.   In the use state determining step, when the device repeats acceleration and deceleration at an acceleration smaller than a predetermined acceleration on a plane perpendicular to gravity by the output of the acceleration sensor, the use state determination step is in a state where the device is used in the vehicle. The display method by the portable map display device according to claim 16, wherein:   In the use state determination step, when the output of the acceleration sensor shows a predetermined periodic vibration peculiar to walking, it is determined that the user is in a state using the device while walking. A display method using the portable map display device according to claim 16 or 17.   19. The azimuth change step according to claim 11, wherein the advancing direction calculation step integrates an angular velocity component that is an output of a gyro sensor that detects an angular velocity as a change in the orientation of the apparatus to obtain an azimuth change. A display method using a portable map display device. The portable map according to any one of claims 11 to 18, wherein the traveling direction calculation step calculates the moving direction from the immediately preceding position and the current position by the position detection step to obtain the traveling direction. A display method by a display device.

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