JP2000266550A - Navigator and storage medium - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To easily display facility information around a current location in a navigation device. SOLUTION: A navigation ECU 10 reads a current location and map data around the current location and displays them on a display 16. When a facility display request is inputted from an operation part 14, the navigation ECU 10 successively displays the detailed information on the facility on the display 16 from the order close to the current location. Also, the icon of a facility whose detailed information is being shown is displayed in emphasis on the map data. The detailed information on the facility is recorded in an HTML format and its photo data are also displayed along with text data.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a navigation device, and more particularly to the provision of facility information around a current location.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a navigation device for displaying map data around a current position on a screen has been known.

[0003] In such a navigation device, it is an important technology to inform a user of what kind of facilities are present around the present location in order to make traveling comfortable.

For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 5-113753 discloses that, for example, when a user operates a switch to search for a restaurant around the present location, a pointing mark on the screen sequentially indicates a restaurant mark on the screen. A technology is disclosed in which the name of a shop or a recommended dish is notified by voice, and when another switch is operated, particularly important information among related information is displayed in characters.

[0005]

However, in this technique, the user must visually confirm the restaurant indicated by the pointing mark and then obtain the relevant information of the restaurant by hearing, and thus the information can be obtained quickly. There is a problem that can not be. Also, when displaying text information on the screen,
Further, there is a problem that another switch must be operated and the operation becomes complicated.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems of the related art, and an object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus which can provide facility information around a current location to a user in a simple manner by a simple operation. .

[0007]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a navigation device for displaying facility information on a map, comprising: input means for inputting a display request for the facility information; Display control means for searching for facility information existing around the current location and sequentially displaying the facility information when the display request is input. When the display request is input, by displaying the facility information around the current location, the user can easily obtain the facility information visually. Further, by sequentially displaying the facility information, the user does not need to specify the facility for which the detailed information is to be displayed each time. In addition, the display order is arbitrary, but for example, the display can be performed in an order closer to the current location.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, the display control means displays the facility information for a predetermined time and then returns to a screen state before the facility data is displayed. By automatically returning to the original screen,
Even after obtaining the detailed information, the user does not need to perform any special operation for returning to the original screen, and the operability is improved.

In a third aspect based on the first and second aspects, the display control means superimposes and displays the facility information on the map data and highlights the facility position on the map data. It is characterized by doing. By highlighting the facility position displayed on the map data, the user can easily visually recognize which facility detailed information is displayed on the map data. The mode of the highlighted display is arbitrary, and there are reverse display, frame display, blinking display, and the like.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a medium for recording a control program for executing a navigation function, the program causing a computer to display, on a display device, the position of a facility existing around the current location, When a request for displaying facility information is input, facility information around the current location is searched, the facility information obtained by the search is sequentially displayed on the display device, and the facility position at which the detailed information is displayed is highlighted. It is characterized by the following. The form of the recording medium is arbitrary, and includes any medium capable of carrying information electromagnetically, chemically, and optically.

[0011]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of this embodiment. Navigation ECU (electronic control unit)
Reference numeral 10 denotes a microcomputer which searches for facility data from map data and executes a search operation for a route to a destination using the map data. Map database 1
Reference numeral 2 denotes a storage medium such as a CD-ROM or a DVD, and supplies map data to the navigation ECU 10. The map data includes information on various facilities such as restaurants, convenience stores, and gas stations. The facility information may be in a text format, but may be in, for example, an HTML format in order to improve data visibility for the user. The operation unit 14 is used to input various commands such as a request for displaying a destination, a waypoint, or facility information. The input data is supplied to the navigation ECU 10. The operation unit 14 can be configured as a touch switch displayed on a display in addition to a button. The display 16 displays the current position of the detected vehicle together with the map data, and also displays the route to the destination obtained by the search. Further, when the navigation ECU 10 searches for facility information around the current location in response to a display request from the user, the obtained facility information is displayed. The speaker 18 outputs audio data to guide the vehicle along the route to the destination. The position detection device 20 detects the absolute position (latitude and longitude) of the vehicle by GPS and supplies the detected position to the navigation ECU 10. Of course, the position detecting device 20
Alternatively, DGPS for performing error correction using an error signal transmitted by FM multiplex broadcasting may be used, and position detection using a combination of a direction sensor and a distance sensor may be performed.

[0013] In such a configuration, if the user registers in advance the facilities he wants to display on the map data,
When displaying the map data together with the current location, the navigation ECU 10 searches for registered facilities from the map data and displays the position of the facility as an icon.

FIG. 2 shows an example of a screen displayed on the display 16 during navigation travel. The current location mark 22 is displayed, and the positions of the facilities 24, 26, and 28 registered by the user in advance are displayed as icons. The facilities 22, 24, 26 are, for example, convenience stores, gas stations, restaurants, department stores, and the like. On the other hand, the navigation ECU 10 further displays a “guide” switch 30 at the lower part of such a screen. The guide switch 30 is a touch switch and functions as a part of the operation unit 14. When the user wants to know the detailed information of the facilities around the present location displayed on the screen, the user operates the guide switch 30. I do.

FIG. 3 shows an example of a screen displayed on the display 16 by the navigation ECU 10 when the guide switch is operated. The screen switches from the navigation screen to the map data screen (the guidance route disappears and the cursor is displayed in the center), the facility closest to the current location among the displayed facilities is searched, and the icon is highlighted ( In the figure, a square frame 32 surrounding the facility 24). Then, the detailed information of the facility searched at a predetermined position on the screen (upper part of the screen in the figure) is read from the map database 12 and displayed in the window 34. In the figure, the name of the facility and the traveling distance to the facility are displayed. At the bottom of the screen, a selection switch including a menu switch, a spot switch 35, and a guide switch 30 is displayed. In this state, when the user operates the guide switch 30 again, the navigation ECU 10
Searches for the facility closest to the current location (in the figure, facility 2
8) The icon is highlighted and the detailed information of the facility is displayed in the window 34. In the window 34, in addition to the facility name and the distance from the current location, other information such as the presence or absence of a parking lot can be displayed.

As described above, in this embodiment, the detailed information of the facility closest to the current location is displayed on the screen by one operation, so that the user can quickly obtain the detailed information around the current location. Further, when detailed information of another facility is desired, the detailed information can be obtained sequentially (in an order close to the current location) simply by operating the same switch again.

If the next operation is not performed for a predetermined time (for example, 6 seconds) after operating the guide switch 30, the user determines that necessary facility information has been obtained, and the navigation is performed. The ECU 10 returns the screen of FIG. 3 to the screen of FIG. 2 by displaying the screen of FIG. 2 again. As a result, the user does not need to perform any special operation to continue the navigation.

On the other hand, some users may want more detailed information on facilities around the current location. In this case, the user operates the spot switch 35 on the screen shown in FIG.
Operate.

FIG. 4 shows an example of a screen displayed by the navigation ECU 10 when the spot switch 35 is operated. A window 36 for displaying more detailed information of the facility is displayed at the center of the screen. If the facility is a restaurant, an address, a telephone number, and the like are displayed. When photograph data of the facility is present, the navigation ECU 10 displays a photograph switch 38 at the bottom of the screen, and operates when the user wants to view a photograph of the facility, as shown in FIG. The photograph data of the facility is displayed in the window 40 at the center of the screen. In addition, a text switch 42 is displayed at the bottom of the screen in FIG. 5, and when the user wants to see the text data again from the photograph, operating this switch returns to the screen in FIG. Of course, when the detailed information of the facility is stored in the map database 12 in the HTML format, the navigation ECU 10 operates when the user operates the spot switch 35.
0 activates the HTML browser software, and the text data and the photo data can be displayed together on the display 16 as shown in FIG.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the contents described based on the navigation operation in FIGS. 2 to 6.

In step 110, a map is displayed for route guidance as shown in FIG. In this state, in step 120, it is detected whether or not the guide switch 30, which is means for indicating that detailed information is desired, has been operated. When the guide switch 30 is not operated, the map display and the route guidance are continued.

If the guide switch 30 is operated in step 120, it is determined in step 130 whether or not there is detailed information in the area currently displayed by navigation. If it is determined in step 130 that there is no detailed information, in step 140, it is displayed that there is no detailed information on the navigation display screen, and thereafter, the process returns to the map display and the route guidance.

If it is determined in step 130 that there is detailed information, it is determined in step 150 whether detailed information is being created, that is, whether reading of the detailed information from the database has been completed.

If it is determined in step 150 that the reading of the detailed information has not been completed, step 160
Indicates that the reading of the detailed information is currently performed on the navigation display screen, and when the reading is completed, the map data screen shown in FIG. If detailed information is not being created in step 150, that is, if detailed information has already been read from the database, step 170 is immediately performed.
Displays the map data screen.

When displaying the map data screen in step 170, if there are a plurality of facilities for which detailed information is to be displayed, the closest facility from the current position is searched and displayed. This has the effect of being able to know facilities that can be reached as soon as possible from the current location. The display is not limited to the one based on the distance, but can be set in advance to display, for example, a facility for which a member registration has been made preferentially. In this case, the preference of the operator can be reflected, and more appropriate information is provided.

If it is indicated in step 180 that more detailed data is desired while the map data screen is being displayed in step 170, the spot switch 35 shown in FIG. In this case, detailed information as shown in FIG. 4 is displayed on the navigation screen. In this state, when the photograph switch 38 shown in FIG. 5 is operated, a photograph of the facility is displayed on the navigation screen.

In step 200, when it is detected that it is desired to return to the original map data display within a predetermined time while the detailed information is displayed, or when the predetermined time has elapsed. In either case, a map data screen display similar to step 170 is performed in step 210.

In step 220, it is determined whether or not the guide switch 30 has been operated within a predetermined time from the state in which the map data was displayed in step 170 or step 210. If the guide switch 30 is operated within a predetermined time in step 220, it is determined in step 230 whether the next information exists. If there is next detailed information, for example, information next to the previous facility, that information is displayed in step 240. This display has the same form as the display in step 170. If it is determined in step 220 that the guide switch 30 has not been operated within a predetermined time, the process returns to the map display for route guidance.

If there is no next information in step 230, a map is displayed for route guidance in step 250.

When there are two or more pieces of detailed information, the display is repeated in order by operating the guide switch. In this description, when there are two or more pieces of detailed information, when the display of two pieces of detailed information is completed, the display returns to the map display for route guidance. However, when the guide switch is continuously operated, the route guidance is performed. Without returning to the map view for
It is also possible to return to the display of the initial detailed information.

When the position of the own vehicle is moved by the operator in the state of the map for route guidance, that is, when the position of the own vehicle is changed by scrolling the map, the position of the own vehicle at the destination is set as a reference. Thus, it is possible to search for detailed information within a range where the screen is displayed.

This has the effect that the user can easily know the detailed information at the place where he or she travels.

In a state where the guide switch is operated and the map data screen is displayed, that is, in a state where the own vehicle position is scrolled in the state of FIG. It is also possible to search.

This has the effect that once the guide information has been obtained, the guide information in the traveling direction can be easily obtained.

While the embodiment of the present invention has been described above, the processing of the navigation ECU 10 in this embodiment is based on the control program recorded on a recording medium such as a CD-ROM or a DVD-ROM.
Installed in the navigation ECU 10
It can be realized by U executing the control program sequentially. The basic algorithm of this control program is
Displays the location of facilities near the current location with icons,
A facility display request is received, and when there is a facility display request, a facility near the current location is searched from the map database,
To display the detailed information of the facility in the order from the current location and highlight the icon of the facility on the screen, and to return to the screen before the detailed display if a new display request is not received within a certain time It is.

[0036]

As described above, according to the present invention,
Facility information around the current location can be obtained easily and quickly.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration block diagram of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of a navigation screen according to the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of a screen when a guide switch is operated on the screen of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of a screen when a spot switch is operated on the screen of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of a screen when a photo switch is operated on the screen of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of a screen when the detailed information in the embodiment is in an HTML format.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart of the embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

Reference Signs List 10 navigation ECU, 12 map database, 14 operation unit, 16 display, 18 speaker, 20 position detecting device.

 ────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Satoshi Hotta 4-3-1 Tsunashima Higashi, Kohoku-ku, Yokohama-shi, Kanagawa Prefecture F-term (reference) 2C032 HB02 HB06 HB11 HC08 HC22 HC27 2F029 AA02 AB01 AB07 AC02 AC04 AC13 AC14 AC18 5H180 AA01 BB13 EE01 FF04 FF05 FF22 FF25 FF27 FF32 FF35 FF38

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A navigation device for displaying facility information on a map, comprising: input means for inputting a display request for the facility information; and, when the display request is input, the facility information existing around a current location. A navigation device, comprising: display control means for searching and displaying sequentially. 2. The navigation device according to claim 1, wherein the display control means displays the facility information for a predetermined time and then returns to a screen state before the display of the facility data. 3. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the display control unit superimposes and displays the facility information on map data and highlights a facility position on the map data. A navigation device characterized by the above-mentioned. 4. A medium for recording a control program for executing a navigation function, the program causing a computer to display an icon of a location of a facility existing around the current location on a display device, and a request for displaying facility information is issued. When input, the facility information around the current location is searched, the facility information obtained by the search is sequentially displayed on the display device, and the facility position where the detailed information is displayed is highlighted. Medium.