JP2978985B2 - Navigation device - Google Patents

Description

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to a navigation device that outputs guidance information for going to a destination when a destination is input. 2. Description of the Related Art A navigation device provides a course guide to a driver who is unfamiliar with geography, and in recent years, this navigation device has been actively developed. A conventional navigation device sets a course from a departure point to a destination before traveling, and provides a course guide according to the set course. The map is displayed on the CRT screen, and the course is displayed on the map. And
When an intersection to be turned next is designated according to a preset course, the distance to the intersection to be turned next is displayed as a number or a graph. In such a navigation device, when turning at an intersection, the driver looks at the course displayed on the map to determine the next intersection to turn, or looks at the display of numbers or graphs to determine the intersection to which the driver should turn. Know the distance and judge the intersection. Conventionally, when inputting the destination, the user inputs the code by looking at a code number symmetry table set for each destination. Further, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 60-230185, for example, all readings of place names as destinations are inputted, and place name information registered in a storage device is searched. [0005] However, in the conventional navigation device, when a destination is to be input, the user has to input a code by looking at a code number symmetrical table, which requires a complicated operation. have. Further, the input method disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Sho 60-230185 has a problem that the user only knows the destination name vaguely and cannot input it unless he / she completely knows the reading of the place name. . SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned conventional problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a navigation apparatus which can easily select a destination even when the destination name is only ambiguous. And [0007] In order to achieve the above object, a navigation device according to a first invention of the present application (an invention according to claim 1) has an input device for inputting a destination and a navigation device for going to the destination. Guidance information for providing guidance, a storage device storing destination information, an output device for outputting the guidance information, and guidance information for setting a destination based on an input of the input device and going to the destination A storage device that stores data related to a character string representing a name in the destination information, and the input device sequentially reads the character string in order of reading. When a part of the character string of the destination is input from the input device, the control device stores the plurality of destinations including the character strings arranged in the order of the input reading. Select from the destination information stored in the device and select
In addition, the navigation device according to the second invention of the present application (the invention according to claim 4) is characterized in that an input device for inputting a destination and guidance for going to the destination are provided. Guidance information to perform, a storage device storing destination information, an output device that outputs the guidance information, a destination is set based on the input of the input device, and the guidance information for going to the destination is In a navigation device including a control device that outputs to an output device, the storage device stores data related to a character string representing a name in the destination information, and the control device is configured to input a character from the input device. Selecting a plurality of destinations including the input characters from the destination information stored in the storage device,
When the selected destination information is equal to or less than a predetermined number, a plurality of selected destination information is displayed on a menu. According to the first invention of the present application, the use
Approximate character input to the extent that the user remembers or the user
Displays a menu with multiple destinations containing that string
So that, for example, the user is vague without knowing the formal name
Even if you only know the name, from the candidate menu
You can select the desired destination and use
Input characters one by one, and the destination including the character string
Is displayed in the menu, and if the number of selected candidates is large,
Further candidates can be narrowed down by entering the next character
Can be. In addition, the user sequentially inputs the readings of the destination and sequentially displays the list. For example, if only three characters are input and the list is displayed, there are hundreds of candidates. When characters are input, it is possible to select a destination while comparing the input of the character string with the total number of applicable candidates, such as narrowing down candidates to ten or more. In addition, the second
According to the invention, when performing a character input search, the input sentence
If the number of characters is less than a predetermined number, for example, the display screen
The menu is displayed above and the user can easily select
Or the number of candidates was enough to confirm the name easily
Automatically show that multiple selected destinations
This makes it easier for the user to select
The user does not know the official name, only knows the name vaguely
Even if you select the desired destination from the menu of candidates
It is possible to do. Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a navigation device according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining a navigation route order. 1 is an input device, 2 is a CPU, 3 is a CRT, and a liquid crystal display. And 4, a storage device. The keyboard 5, which is an input device, is composed of numeric keys and function keys, and is capable of inputting a code number of a predetermined point such as a destination or the present location (guide point). Instead of the keyboard 5, a touch panel 6, a light pen 7, and a mouse 8 or voice input means 9 is used. The storage device 4 is a memory such as a ROM that stores network data and information of each point as a destination and a current location, and includes a region name list, a feature list, an intersection list, map data, a Roman alphabet sort file, Hiragana sort files, intersection data, feature data, road data, and the like are stored. The CPU 2 which is a control device in the present invention
When a destination is input and designated by the input device 1, information for going to the destination by, for example, a route search is set for each point stored in the storage device 4 and stored in a memory such as a RAM. It is. Then, when the current location information is input by the input device 1, the display device 3, which is an output device,
The guidance information of the point is output, and as the guidance information stored in the storage device 4, for example, when only an intersection is targeted as a point, at an intersection serving as a guidance point, the next intersection may be turned right or left. It is information to go to the destination.
Also, when there is a second intersection immediately after approaching the next intersection and there is a second intersection, instruction information such as the lane to be taken at that time may be entered together with the direction of the first intersection, or two more. Needless to say, the information for guiding even the direction of turning with the eyes may be included. For example, as shown in FIG.
It outputs guidance information on the route to the destination according to the route order of b, c,.... Next, the processing flow of the navigation apparatus according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. First, a driver inputs a destination code (step).
Then, the mode is switched to the route search mode, and information for going to the destination is set for all points other than the destination (step). When the route search is completed, the current location input mode is entered. When the current location code is input (step), the traveling direction at that point is output (step). Then, when an intersection check trigger is input (start input, step), information for going to the destination at the next intersection is output (step). Next, it is monitored whether an intersection confirmation trigger is entered or a current position input button signal is entered (step). If the intersection confirmation trigger is entered, the process returns to step processing. Return to processing. In other words, in this system, if you are driving according to the guidance, a trigger is input every time you check the intersection, but if you notice that you have gone off the course to be guided and traveled to another intersection , The current location input button is pressed. Therefore, every time the trigger is input, the guidance information of the intersection on the route to the destination is sequentially output. When the current location input button is pressed, the current location input mode is set. FIG. 4A shows the route search process in step 2.
When entering the route search mode as shown in (1), first, a destination is set in the work area (step 11), and then a traveling direction is set from an intersection close to the destination (step 12).
The traveling direction, it is possible to repeatedly set the FIG. 4 for the intersection in front of the destination as shown in (b) to set the traveling direction d _1, then the traveling direction d ₂ for the previous intersection.
This route search may be performed after the processing of the step in FIG. In this case, a route search is performed every time the current location is input. Further, in the trigger input, the guidance information is output according to the route set as a result of the route search, so that the target intersection is limited. Therefore, it is possible to have guidance information of only the intersection at least. In the above example, in the route search processing, when a destination is input, guidance information is set for all intersections, and guidance is performed based on the guidance information set at each intersection. However, for example, a conventionally well-known method of calculating one recommended route from the current position to the destination after inputting the destination and providing guidance according to the calculated route may be adopted. FIGS. 5 to 9 show the data structure of destination information stored in the storage device 4 of the present invention. FIG.
(A) shows a relatively wide range of area names, for example, a list of prefecture names. For example, prefecture number 01 is "Aichi prefecture".
The data includes kanji, hiragana, and romaji prefecture names, city name list storage addresses (top addresses), city name list data numbers, representative intersection characteristic object numbers, and the like. FIG.
(B) indicates the lower-level information of the area name, for example, a ward name or a city name list, and as data, kanji, hiragana, and romaji city names, a street name list storage address (top address), the number of street name list data, representative intersection characteristics It has an object number, etc. FIG. 5 (c) shows a town name list which is further lower level information of the area name, and includes kanji, hiragana and romaji town names, an intersection list storage address (first address), an intersection list data number, a feature list storage address, and the like. It has the number of feature list data, the representative intersection feature number, and the like. By having area name data of such a hierarchical structure, the input of the destination can be searched from prefecture name to town name. It can be set for each prefecture, city, and town. FIGS. 6 to 9 show point data corresponding to the area name data. FIGS. 6 (a) and 6 (b) show an intersection list and a feature list, where an intersection number and a feature number are respectively listed. ing. FIGS. 6 (c) and 6 (d) show romaji and hiragana sort files. By arranging the place names in alphabetical order or the Japanese syllabary order and having data storage addresses corresponding thereto, the search time for place names can be shortened. FIG. 7A shows an example of intersection data.
Intersection name, coordinates (north latitude, east longitude) corresponding to the intersection number,
The road number between intersections and the presence or absence of a signal are stored.
Thus, various kinds of navigation information are displayed on the route search and display. FIG. 7B shows an example of the feature data, in which feature names (eg, river names, building names, bridge names, etc.), coordinates, and connecting intersection numbers corresponding to the feature numbers are stored. FIG. 8 shows an example of road data. As shown in FIG. 9, roads are assigned road numbers. For each road number, a start point and an end point (intersection number), a road number having the same start point, a road number having the next number, and a road having the same end point The next number among the numbers, the thickness of the road, the traffic prohibition information, the guidance unnecessary information (for example, when traveling straight), and the photograph number are stored. Next, a destination input which is a feature of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 10 shows a display example on the display when a destination is input. FIG. 11 shows an input screen when the input of a prefecture name, a city name or a town name is selected according to FIG. This is input on a display by a touch panel, a light pen, a mouse, or the like. Fig. 11 (a) shows a Roman alphabet input screen, (b)
Is an example of a hiragana input screen, and FIG. 12A is an example of a code number input screen. FIG. 12B shows an example of a menu screen when a destination is input. In this case,
This shows that "KA" is input and "Kanda, Kasumigaseki" is searched and displayed. Next, the flow of a destination input process will be described with reference to FIG. First, in step 51, it is determined whether or not to input a region name. According to a combination of input of a prefecture name, a city name, and a town name, a prefecture name list, a city name list, and a town name list are sequentially searched to obtain an intersection list and a feature. The storage address of the object list is obtained (steps 52 to 58). Then, a routine for setting the intersection of the destination is executed. FIG. 14 shows another example of the destination input process, in which the name of a prefecture, the name of a city, and the name of a town are independently input (steps 62 to 65), and a step 66 is performed.
Are different in that a representative intersection number or a feature object number is used as a destination intersection number. The input of the prefecture name, the city name, and the town name described above is shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 5, by performing the process of selecting a place name using the touch panel, a character string can be easily input by inputting a Roman character or a hiragana. First, after the input screen is displayed in step 21, it is determined in step 22 whether or not the input is a Roman character. If the input is a Roman character, the input character buffer is cleared and one character of the Roman character is input and stored in the input character buffer ( Steps 23-25). Next, a place name corresponding to the character string in the character buffer is selected from the Roman alphabet sort list and displayed on the menu screen (step 26).
If the number of names is not equal to or less than the predetermined number in step 27, the process returns to step 24 and the next character is input. Perform processing to make it smaller,
Next, an item in the menu is selected (step 28), and if selected, the data of the name selected in step 29 is read and set in a predetermined area of the memory. If there is no item to select on the menu screen, the process returns to step 24 and the above processing is repeated. If it is not a Roman character input in step 22, it is determined whether or not it is a hiragana input in step 30, and if it is a hiragana input, processing similar to the above processing (steps 31 to 36) is performed. If it is not a hiragana input in step 30, a code number is input (step 37). If there is a name corresponding to this code number in step 38, the process proceeds to step 29. Thus, the screen shown in FIG. 12B is obtained. Next, a route search after the above-mentioned destination is set will be described with reference to FIGS. First, as shown in FIG. 16, one intersection or a feature closest to the departure point is determined from the intersection list and the feature list (route search). FIG. 17 is a flow chart showing the route search process. First, in step 71, the distance from the departure point is set to FF for all intersections, and the search flag is set to 0.
(Not searched) (initial setting). In step 72, the distance from the departure point is input to the intersection number on both sides of the departure point, and the search flag 1 (during search) is set to the intersection number on both sides.
Insert Further, the user inputs the road number that has passed from the departure place. In step 73, an intersection number for which the search flag is 2 (the search is completed) and the distance is the minimum is found.
In steps 74 and 75, the surrounding road is searched. If there is a surrounding road, an optimal route condition setting subroutine is executed (step 76). In step 77, the intersection number and the distance of the end point of the road are input. Then step 78
If the distance is equal to or greater than the distance from the departure point, this is set as the distance from the departure point, and the search flag is set to 1
(Searching) and input the road number (step 7).
9, 80). By executing the processing of steps 74 to 80,
If it is determined in step 75 that there is no surrounding road, the search flag is set to 2, and the end condition confirmation subroutine is executed and the process ends (steps 81 to 83). FIG. 18 shows the processing of the surrounding road search subroutine of step 74 in FIG. First, at step 91, it is determined whether or not the search for surrounding roads is the first time. If it is the first time, at step 92, the road number starting from the current intersection is extracted from the intersection data and stored. Next, in step 93, a prohibited road corresponding to the road coming to this intersection is extracted from the road data, and in step 94, it is determined whether the extracted road is the prohibited road described in FIG.
If NO, the process proceeds to step 96, and if NO, the road taken out this time is stored as the surrounding road. If the search for the surrounding road is not the first time in step 91 and Y is
In the case of ES, at step 96, the road number having the same starting point as the previously searched road and the next road number is extracted. At step 97, it is determined whether the first searched road matches the road extracted this time. Is determined, and if they do not match, the process proceeds to step 93. If they match, it is determined in step 98 that there is no surrounding road. FIG. 19 shows the processing of the optimum route condition setting subroutine of step 76 in FIG. First, the thickness and length of the surrounding road are read from the road data, and it is determined whether the thickness is, for example, 1 m or less (steps 101 and 102). If the thickness exceeds 1 m, the process directly proceeds to step 104. If the thickness is 1 m or less, the length of the road is doubled, for example, and the guidance unnecessary data of the road that has come to the intersection currently being searched is read from the road data. (Steps 103 and 104). Next, step 105
Determines whether or not guidance-unnecessary data is on the surrounding road,
If there is, go to step 107. If not, add 100 m to the length of the road, and add the distance to the virtual distance of the intersection currently being searched from the departure point in step 107, thereby obtaining the virtual value of the intersection ahead of the surrounding road. Distance. It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and various modifications are possible. For example, I
A place name list of a specific area may be stored in the C card or CDROM. In addition, the conventional navigation device provided with a distance sensor and a steering angle sensor is combined with the navigation device according to the present invention. The apparatus may automatically recognize a predetermined point and switch guidance information to be output. In the combination of the present invention and the conventional one, for example, a monotonous road area such as a single road and a complex road area may be selectively used in the method using the sensor and the method according to the present invention. Alternatively, it may be used as a backup when a conventional navigation device breaks down. The distance information between the guide points may be provided, the distance may be obtained by a distance sensor, and the instruction input (trigger input) of the next point may be prompted by voice or display. When a desired course, such as an alley back route or a main route, can be set, information indicating whether or not the subject is a target is added to each point, and the information is set in the guide information setting. By specifying the preference, the route search may be performed only at the target point.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a navigation device according to the present invention. FIG. 2 shows a navigation processing route order 1 according to the present invention.
It is a figure showing an example. FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining an overall flow of a navigation process according to the present invention. FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining a route search process according to the present invention. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a data structure of destination information stored in a storage device of the present invention. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a data structure of destination information stored in a storage device of the present invention. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a data structure of destination information stored in a storage device of the present invention. FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a data structure of destination information stored in the storage device of the present invention. FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a data structure of destination information stored in a storage device of the present invention. FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a screen display example showing one embodiment of a destination input in the present invention. FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a screen display example following FIG. 10; FIG. 12 is a diagram showing a screen display example following FIG. 11; FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating a flow of a destination input process according to the present invention. FIG. 14 is a diagram illustrating a flow of a destination input process according to the present invention. FIG. 15 is a diagram illustrating an embodiment of destination input according to the present invention and illustrating a flow of processing. FIG. 16 is a diagram for explaining a flow of a route search process according to the present invention. FIG. 17 is a diagram illustrating a flow of a route search process according to the present invention. FIG. 18 is a diagram illustrating a flow of a route search process according to the present invention. FIG. 19 is a diagram illustrating a flow of a route search process according to the present invention. [Description of Signs] 1 ... Input device, 2 ... Control device, 3 ... Output device, 4 ... Storage device

────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-62-51000 (JP, A) JP-B-58-48107 (JP, B2) JP-T2-503045 (JP, A) (58) Field (Int.Cl. ⁶ , DB name) G01C 21/00 G08G 1/0969 G09B 29/00

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] An input device for inputting a destination, guidance information for providing guidance for going to the destination, a storage device for storing the destination information, an output device for outputting the guidance information, and a destination based on the input of the input device. A navigation device comprising a control device for setting a place and outputting guidance information for going to the destination to the output device, wherein the storage device stores data relating to a character string representing a name in the destination information. The input device is capable of sequentially inputting an arbitrary number of character strings in the order of reading, and the control device, when a part of the character string of the destination is input from the input device, in the order of the input reading A plurality of destinations including the arranged character strings are selected from the destination information stored in the storage device, and the selected plurality of destinations are selected.
A navigation device for displaying a destination of the user on a menu. 2. 2. The navigation device according to claim 1, wherein the storage device stores area name data corresponding to an area name representing an area on a map as the destination information. 3. 3. The navigation device according to claim 2, wherein the area name data is hierarchically structured data including a prefecture, a ward city name, and a town name. 4. An input device for inputting a destination, guidance information for providing guidance for going to the destination, a storage device for storing the destination information, an output device for outputting the guidance information, and a destination based on the input of the input device. A navigation device comprising a control device for setting a place and outputting guidance information for going to the destination to the output device, wherein the storage device stores data relating to a character string representing a name in the destination information. The control device, when a character is input from the input device, selects a plurality of destinations including the input character from the destination information stored in the storage device, the selected destination information A navigation device displaying a plurality of pieces of destination information selected when the number of destinations is equal to or less than a predetermined number. 5. The number of the selected destination information is not less than a predetermined number.
If you have several navigation devices ranging fourth claim of claims, characterized in that sequentially prompt for the next character until it Do <br/> below a predetermined value of the destination information selected.