JP2004077281A - Map displaying method for navigation device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To display the positions, travel directions and speeds of peripheral vehicles using vehicle-to-vehicle communication. <P>SOLUTION: A means for collecting information of the peripheral vehicles is provided to this device, and when the own automobile CAR approaches a place exhibiting bad view such as a corner, a curve, the collecting means collects information of the peripheral vehicles 1-10, and the device magnifies the peripheral region and displays the peripheral vehicles at their positions. The travel directions and speeds of the peripheral vehicles are displayed by arrows and their lengths. Display priority of the respective peripheral vehicles is determined according to levels of attention by a driver, and the display of the peripheral vehicles is controlled (for example, lightness control, display/non-display control) according to the priority. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a map display method of a navigation device, and more particularly, to a map display method of a navigation device that displays a surrounding vehicle at a location where the own vehicle approaches an unsightly point such as an intersection or a corner.
[0002]
[Prior art]
2. Description of the Related Art With the development of communication technology, communication between mobile bodies such as between vehicles (called vehicle-to-vehicle communication) has become possible. However, in the conventional vehicle-to-vehicle communication, a driver specifies a partner to be connected, connects to the partner via a network, and performs communication. Alternatively, in the conventional vehicle-to-vehicle communication, road conditions and traffic accident conditions are transmitted as information to a center or a following vehicle based on the position and speed of the own vehicle.
[0003]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
In the conventional vehicle-to-vehicle communication, there has been no ingenuity in the method of expressing information in consideration of the safety of the driver around the vehicle and the HMI. For example, it would be convenient for safe driving if the map at the intersection could be enlarged to fill the screen and the position, traveling direction, and speed of the surrounding vehicles could be displayed, but conventionally, such display was made using inter-vehicle communication. There was no. In addition, when a surrounding map is displayed three-dimensionally and a surrounding vehicle is hidden behind a building and cannot be seen, it is convenient for safe driving if an alarm can be output.However, in the past, such an alarm was issued using inter-vehicle communication. There was nothing to output.
From the above, it is an object of the present invention to be able to display the position, traveling direction, and speed of surrounding vehicles using inter-vehicle communication.
Another object of the present invention is to make it possible to use an inter-vehicle communication to display an alarm when a surrounding vehicle is hidden behind a building and cannot be seen.
[0004]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
The first map display method of the present invention is provided with a means for collecting information on the surrounding vehicles, and when the own vehicle approaches an unsightly point such as an intersection or a corner, acquires the surrounding vehicle information from the collecting means. In addition, the peripheral vehicle information collection area by the collection means is enlarged and displayed, and the peripheral vehicles are displayed at the location based on the acquired peripheral vehicle information. Further, the traveling direction and the speed of the surrounding vehicles are displayed by arrows and their lengths. Further, the display priority of each surrounding vehicle is determined based on the degree to which the driver should pay attention, and the display of the surrounding vehicles is controlled (for example, brightness control, display / non-display control) based on the priority. According to this map display method, the position, the traveling direction, and the speed of the surrounding vehicles can be displayed using the inter-vehicle communication, which leads to the safe driving of the driver.
[0005]
According to a second method of displaying surrounding vehicles of the present invention, a means for collecting information of surrounding vehicles is provided, and when the own vehicle approaches an invisible point such as an intersection or a corner, surrounding vehicle information is obtained from the collecting means. Then, it checks whether the surrounding vehicles are hidden by a building or the like, and if so, displays an alarm. According to this map display method, it is possible to display an alarm when surrounding vehicles are hidden by a building and cannot be seen, using inter-vehicle communication.
[0006]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
(A) Schematic of the present invention FIG. 1 is a first schematic explanatory diagram of the present invention, in which (a) is a normal map display example and (b) is a map display example of the present invention when approaching an intersection. . In (a), for convenience, the other vehicles 1 to 10 and the peripheral area boundary line MAR are displayed, but are not actually displayed.
In the figure, SCR is a screen, CAR is a vehicle, 1 to 10 are peripheral vehicles, and MAR is a peripheral region boundary line, that is, a boundary line of a peripheral region for determining that the vehicle is a peripheral vehicle if present. The size of the peripheral area is set in advance. Each vehicle includes an inter-vehicle communication means, for example, a Bluetooth device.
[0007]
If the vehicle CAR travels while displaying a normal map while approaching an area such as an intersection where visibility is difficult, the vehicle-to-vehicle communication means of the navigation device obtains peripheral vehicle information from peripheral vehicles. Next, as shown in (b), the surrounding area surrounded by the boundary line MAR is enlarged and displayed, and the surrounding vehicles are displayed at the location. Further, the traveling direction and the speed of the surrounding vehicles are displayed by arrows and their lengths. Further, the display priority of each peripheral vehicle is determined based on the degree to which the driver should pay attention, and the display of the peripheral vehicles is controlled based on the priority. For example, only the vehicles that have an effect on the traveling of the vehicle are displayed, and vehicles that do not affect the traveling are not displayed. Alternatively, a vehicle with a low priority is displayed in an inconspicuous color, or displayed in a light color by controlling the brightness. In (b), vehicles 2, 6, 9, and 10, which do not affect the traveling of the own vehicle, are not displayed even in the case of surrounding vehicles. This is because displaying too much information distracts the driver.
[0008]
During the above-described display control, if the vehicle passes a corner and the necessity of safety confirmation is reduced, the system returns to the normal navigation guidance and the display area of the screen is returned to the original state ((b)-(a)).
If the map is displayed as described above, the position, the traveling direction, and the speed of the surrounding vehicles can be displayed using the inter-vehicle communication, which is convenient for the driver in safe driving. In addition, the display of the other vehicle is controlled based on the degree to which the driver should pay attention, so that the vehicle can be easily viewed.
[0009]
FIG. 2 is a second schematic explanatory view of the present invention. In the case where the map around the own vehicle is three-dimensionally displayed (3D display), when the other vehicle MC is not visible due to the shadow of the building B from the position of the own vehicle CAR, the vehicle is hidden on the three-dimensional three-dimensional display. A warning is displayed to the effect that is present. In the future, when the car navigation guide map is converted to 3D and the size and height of the building are displayed, other vehicles, motorcycles, and the like are often hidden behind the building or the like depending on the position of the own vehicle, and often cannot be seen. When the other vehicle is not visible, a warning is displayed to the driver. As a warning method, a method of displaying a message on a car navigation screen or issuing a warning by voice can be considered.
[0010]
(B) Overall Configuration FIG. 3 is a system configuration diagram of the present invention, in which a navigation device 50 and an inter-vehicle communication device 60 are provided, and they are connected to be able to communicate with each other.
The navigation device 50 performs a map display control around a vehicle, a route search control to a destination, a route guidance control, and the like, a navigation control unit 51, a map supply that reads necessary map data from a map storage medium and inputs the map data to the navigation control unit. Unit 52, a command input unit 53 for inputting various commands for map display, a current position detection unit 54 for detecting the current position of the vehicle, a display unit 55 for displaying a map, a guidance route, and the like, and a communication unit with a vehicle-to-vehicle communication device. An interface unit 56 for controlling communications between the devices is provided.
[0011]
The vehicle-to-vehicle communication device 60 is a communication unit that communicates with surrounding vehicles, for example, a Bluetooth device 61, a vehicle-to-vehicle communication control unit 62 that controls vehicle-to-vehicle communication, and an interface unit 63 that manages communication with a navigation device. And so on.
Bluetooth is a wireless link intended to replace a cable between a mobile unit and a fixed unit, or between a mobile unit and an electronic device of the mobile unit, or between each of them. Packets are transmitted in 625 μs per slot in a TDD (Time-Division Duplex) system. It uses frequency hopping, in which the frequency is transferred and the frequency changes for each packet. Using the same frequency hopping sequence, one master and up to seven slaves form a piconet and perform communication. For more information on Bluetooth specifications, see Specification of the Bluetooth System Version 1. OA.
[0012]
In summary, in Bluetooth, when a master wants to communicate, the master performs an inquiry (inquiry) using an IQ packet as to what slaves are present in the vicinity, and each slave uses a FHS packet to transmit a Bluetooth device address and a clock necessary for establishing a connection. Respond information to the master. In other words, by performing inquiry, device addresses and clock information of all slaves responding to the inquiry can be collected. Note that the Bluetooth device address is a unique address given to all Bluetooth devices.
[0013]
Thereafter, the master uses the Bluetooth device address and the clock information of the selected predetermined slave to perform a process called Page to actually establish a connection with the slave and transmit / receive data. That is, the master transmits an ID packet to the selected predetermined slave, and upon receiving a reception acknowledgment for the ID packet from the slave, the master transmits an FHS packet to the slave and transmits its own Bluetooth device address and clock information. And then proceeds to the communication phase.
[0014]
(C) Peripheral vehicle display control FIG. 4 is a peripheral vehicle display control flow of the present invention.
The navigation control unit 51 displays a map, a guidance route, and the like according to the traveling, monitors whether the vehicle has reached an unsightly point (referred to as an intersection) such as an intersection or a turn (step 101), and monitors the vicinity of the intersection. Is reached, a request for peripheral vehicle information is made to the inter-vehicle communication device 60 (step 102). Upon receiving this request, the vehicle-to-vehicle communication control unit 62 collects peripheral vehicle information by vehicle-to-vehicle communication using the Bluetooth device 61 and transmits the information to the navigation control unit 51 (step 103). The surrounding vehicle information includes the position, speed, direction, vehicle type (sedan, wagon, truck, motorcycle, etc.), KURUMANO color, and the like.
[0015]
The navigation control unit 51 obtains the degree of danger to the driver using the received surrounding vehicle information of each surrounding vehicle, and determines the display priority according to the degree of danger (step 104). Vehicles traveling in the opposite lane to the own vehicle (vehicles 9 and 10 in FIG. 1A) and vehicles leaving the lane of the own vehicle and having a considerable distance from the lane (vehicles 2 and 6 in FIG. 1) Low priority. The priority of the vehicle in front of the vehicle or the vehicle approaching the lane of the vehicle is high.
Next, it is checked whether or not the map is currently being displayed in 3D (step 105). If the map is not being displayed in 3D, the map in the surrounding area is enlarged and drawn to fill the screen (see FIG. 1B). Then, the surrounding vehicles are displayed at the location on the enlarged map in accordance with the display priority (step 106). In FIG. 1, peripheral vehicles 2, 6, 9, and 10 having a low display priority are not displayed, and only vehicles 1, 3 to 5, and 8 having a high display priority are displayed. Further, the peripheral vehicle figures to be displayed are displayed in figures, sizes, and colors that can be distinguished from each other, and the traveling direction and speed of the peripheral vehicles are displayed by arrows and their lengths.
[0016]
Thereafter, it is monitored whether the vehicle has passed the intersection (step 107). If the vehicle has not passed the intersection, the processing from step 102 is repeated. If the vehicle passes the intersection, the display is returned to the normal display (step 108), and the processing ends.
On the other hand, in step 105, if the vehicle is displaying a three-dimensional image, it is determined whether or not there is a vehicle that is hidden by the building and cannot be seen by referring to the acquired surrounding vehicle information (step 109). An alarm output, for example, "Corner vehicle attention" is displayed on the three-dimensional stereoscopic image to call the driver's attention (step 110). Thereafter, it is monitored whether the vehicle has passed the intersection (step 107). If the vehicle has not passed the intersection, the processing from step 102 onward is repeated. If the vehicle passes the intersection, the display is returned to the normal display (step 108), and the processing ends.
[0017]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the present invention, the position, traveling direction, and speed of the surrounding vehicle are displayed using the inter-vehicle communication, which leads to safe driving of the driver, which is preferable.
Further, according to the present invention, the display priority order of the surrounding vehicles is determined based on the degree to which the driver should pay attention, and the display of the surrounding vehicles is controlled based on the priority order. The vehicle can be easily grasped.
Further, according to the present invention, an inter-vehicle communication is used to recognize a nearby vehicle that is hidden behind a building and is displayed with an alarm, which is effective in preventing accidents.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a first schematic explanatory diagram of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a second schematic explanatory diagram of the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a system configuration diagram of the present invention.
FIG. 4 is a flowchart of a peripheral vehicle display control according to the present invention.
[Explanation of symbols]
Reference Signs List 50 Navigation device 51 Navigation control unit 52 Map supply unit 53 Command input unit 54 Current position detection unit 55 Display unit 60 Vehicle-to-vehicle communication device 61 Communication means, for example, Bluetooth device 62 Vehicle-to-vehicle communication control unit

Claims (4)

In a map display method of a navigation device that displays a map around the own vehicle,
Providing means for collecting information on surrounding vehicles,
When the vehicle approaches an unsightly point such as an intersection or a turn, it acquires peripheral vehicle information from the collection means,
Along with displaying the surrounding vehicle information collection area by the collection means in an enlarged manner, displaying the surrounding vehicle at its location based on the obtained surrounding vehicle information,
A map display method for a navigation device, comprising: The display priority of each surrounding vehicle is determined based on the degree to which the driver must pay attention,
Controlling the display of the surrounding vehicles based on the priority order;
The map display method according to claim 1, wherein: Display the traveling direction and speed of surrounding vehicles with arrows and their lengths,
3. The map display method according to claim 1, wherein: In a map display method of a navigation device that three-dimensionally displays a map around the own vehicle in three dimensions,
Providing means for collecting information on surrounding vehicles,
When the vehicle approaches an unsightly point such as an intersection or a turn, it acquires peripheral vehicle information from the collection means,
Investigate whether the surrounding vehicle is hidden by a building or the like based on the acquired surrounding vehicle information, and if hidden, warn or display a warning,
A map display method for a navigation device, comprising:

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