JP2006234565A - Onboard navigation apparatus and method for displaying magnified view of guidance object point - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To display a magnified view of a guidance object point such as a rotary intersection or the like in an exact geometry in accordance with an actual road shape, in order to carry out an appropriate guidance. <P>SOLUTION: When geometry data of the rotary intersection through which one's own vehicle passes is not stored in a point geometry storing memory 5; a navigation controller 8 draws the magnified view of the rotary intersection based on map data and displays it on a display 7. Furthermore the controller estimates the geometry of the rotary intersection based on a vehicle behavior while the own vehicle passes through the rotary intersection, and stores the deduced geometry of the rotary intersection in the point geometry storing memory 5 as the geometry data. Then next time when the own vehicle approaches the same rotary intersection, since the geometry data of the rotary intersection is stored in the point geometry storing memory 5, the magnified view of the rotary intersection is drawn based on the geometry data and displayed on the display 7. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an in-vehicle navigation device having a function of displaying an enlarged view of a guidance target point such as a right / left turn intersection and performing a guidance, and an enlarged map display method of the guidance target point, and more particularly to a roundabout called a roundabout. The present invention relates to a technique for accurately displaying an enlarged view of a guide target point having a complicated shape.

  In an in-vehicle navigation system that searches for a route connecting the current location of a vehicle and a destination, and displays the searched route on a map image while guiding the route of the vehicle, such as an intersection that becomes a point to turn right or left on the route When a vehicle approaches a road point (hereinafter referred to as a guidance target point), an enlarged view of the guidance target point with an arrow indicating the traveling direction of the vehicle is displayed so that the vehicle can appropriately pass through the guidance target point. In many cases, the guidance of the guidance target point is performed by a technique such as announcing the direction of travel by voice (for example, see Patent Document 1).

By the way, as a special road shape often found in European countries, there is a roundabout called a roundabout in which a plurality of branch roads are connected to a circular passage. Such a roundabout has a complicated road shape that makes it difficult for the driver to grasp the traveling direction of the vehicle. Therefore, when the vehicle approaches the roundabout, the vehicle-mounted navigation device performs guidance as described above. Is desired. Therefore, conventionally, the entire roundabout can be recognized as a guidance target point, and when the vehicle approaches the roundabout, the whole roundabout is enlarged using road data stored in the map data storage unit. There has been proposed an in-vehicle navigation device that draws a figure and performs guidance while displaying this enlarged view on a display (see, for example, Patent Document 2).
JP 2004-184174 A JP 2004-132922 A

  However, in the conventional method described in Patent Document 2, since an enlarged view of the roundabout is drawn based on the digitized road data, an enlarged view of the roundabout displayed on the display is provided. It may be very different from the actual road shape, which may cause the driver to misunderstand the traveling direction of the vehicle.

  Such a problem is a problem that is particularly noticeable at a guide point having a complicated shape such as a roundabout. However, for example, a point where it is relatively difficult to identify a plurality of branch roads such as a narrow-angle Y-junction. Is a problem that can occur in common, and is a problem for which a fundamental solution is desired in an in-vehicle navigation device having a function of guiding a guide target point.

  The present invention was devised to solve the above-described problems of the prior art, and displays an enlarged view of a guide target point such as a roundabout in an accurate form in accordance with the actual road shape. It is an object of the present invention to provide an in-vehicle navigation device and an enlarged map display method for a point to be guided that can perform appropriate guidance.

  In the present invention, in order to achieve the above object, the vehicle behavior while the vehicle is passing through the guidance target point is detected, and the shape of the guidance target point is estimated based on the information on the vehicle behavior. The shape of the guidance target point is stored in the storage means as shape data. When the vehicle approaches the guidance target point where the shape data is stored in the storage means, an enlarged view of the guidance target point is drawn based on the shape data stored in the storage means and displayed. Yes.

  According to the present invention, for the guidance target point where the vehicle has passed in the past, an enlarged view of the guidance target point is drawn in a shape estimated from the vehicle behavior at that time, so the digitized road data Compared to drawing an enlarged map of the guidance target point based on the map, it is possible to display a more accurate enlarged map of the guidance target point according to the actual road shape, and to guide the guidance target point more appropriately be able to.

  Hereinafter, a specific example of an in-vehicle navigation device to which the present invention is applied will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

  The in-vehicle navigation device of the present embodiment has a route search function for searching for an optimal travel route connecting the current position of the vehicle and the destination, or guides the vehicle along the searched route, and turns right or left on the searched route. When a vehicle approaches a guidance target point such as an intersection that becomes a point to be guided, the vehicle has a guidance guidance function for guiding the guidance target point. Can be displayed on the enlarged map of the exact roundabout according to the actual road shape.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of the in-vehicle navigation device of the present embodiment. This in-vehicle navigation device includes a map data storage device 1, a GPS receiver 2, a gyro sensor 3, a vehicle speed sensor 4, a point shape storage memory 5, an input device 6, a display 7, and a navigation controller 8.

  The map data storage device 1 stores map data handled by the in-vehicle navigation device of the present embodiment, and has a recording medium such as a DVD (Digital Versatile Disc). Here, the map data is composed of node data indicating points on the map and link data (road data) indicating roads connecting the nodes, and each node data includes the position coordinates, point attributes, Each piece of link data has data such as position coordinates of the start and end points of the link, link length, road width, road attribute, road name, and the like. In particular, in the map data handled by the in-vehicle navigation device of the present embodiment, for the nodes and links constituting the roundabout, these nodes and links constitute the roundabout from the point attribute of the node data and the road attribute of the link data. It can be specified that it is a thing.

  The map data stored in the map data storage device 1 is appropriately read based on a command from the navigation controller 8 and sent to the navigation controller 8. As the recording medium of the map data storage device 1, recording media having various specifications such as a CD (Compact Disc), a memory card, and a hard disk can be employed in addition to the above-described DVD. Further, when the in-vehicle navigation device has a data communication function by wireless communication or the like, a configuration is adopted in which map data from a service center or the like that provides a map data distribution service is acquired and sent to the navigation controller 8 May be.

  The GPS receiver 2 receives a signal transmitted from a satellite of the global positioning system (GPS), and an absolute position of a vehicle (hereinafter referred to as a host vehicle) on which the vehicle-mounted navigation device of the present embodiment is mounted. And azimuth are detected. The gyro sensor 3 detects the direction of the own vehicle. The vehicle speed sensor 4 detects the vehicle speed of the host vehicle based on, for example, a pulse generated in synchronization with the rotation of the wheel of the host vehicle.

  A GPS reception signal indicating the absolute position and direction of the vehicle detected by the GPS receiver, a gyro sensor signal indicating the vehicle direction detected by the gyro sensor 3, and the vehicle speed detected by the vehicle speed sensor. The vehicle speed sensor signal is sent to the navigation controller 8 and used to calculate the correct current position of the vehicle. In particular, in the in-vehicle navigation device of the present embodiment, the gyro sensor signal from the gyro sensor 3 and the vehicle speed sensor signal from the vehicle speed sensor indicate the vehicle behavior when the vehicle passes through the roundabout that is the guidance target point. It is also used as a grasping signal.

  The point shape storage memory 5 is characteristic in the in-vehicle navigation device of the present embodiment. When the vehicle passes a roundabout that is a guidance target point, the navigation controller 8 uses the vehicle behavior at that time. The shape data indicating the shape of the roundabout estimated as described above is stored. The point shape storage memory 5 is illustrated as an external memory of the navigation controller 8 in FIG. 1, but may be constituted by an internal memory of the navigation controller 8.

  The input device 6 is for the user to input various instructions to the in-vehicle navigation device of the present embodiment. Specifically, for example, various input means such as operation switches, joysticks, and touch panels are used in combination. . The instruction input by the user input from the input device 6 is sent to the navigation controller 8.

  The display 7 is provided by processing in the navigation controller 8 under the control of the navigation controller 8, such as a map image around the own vehicle, information on the searched route, information for guiding the traveling of the own vehicle, and the like. Various information is displayed as a navigation screen. In particular, in the in-vehicle navigation device of the present embodiment, as will be described in detail later, when the own vehicle approaches the guidance target point, it has a guidance guidance function for displaying an enlarged view of the guidance target point and performing guidance. An enlarged view of the guidance target point at this time is displayed on the display 7.

  The navigation controller 8 controls operation for realizing various functions in the in-vehicle navigation device of the present embodiment, and includes peripheral circuits such as a CPU, a ROM and a RAM, and an input / output interface, which are connected via a bus. It has a connected microprocessor configuration. In the navigation controller 8, the CPU uses the RAM as a work area and executes various control programs stored in the ROM, so that, for example, as shown in FIG. 12, the guidance guide unit 13, the map drawing unit 14, the roundabout determination unit 15, and the spot shape estimation unit 16 are realized.

  The own vehicle current position specifying unit 11 determines the absolute position and direction of the own vehicle recognized by the GPS reception signal from the GPS receiver 2, the direction and vehicle speed sensor of the own vehicle recognized by the gyro sensor signal from the gyro sensor 3. 4 is corrected using information such as the vehicle speed and travel distance of the vehicle recognized by the vehicle speed sensor signal from 4, and the accurate current position of the vehicle is specified.

  When the user performs an operation input for setting a destination using the input device 6 and performing a route search, the route search unit 12 is based on the map data stored in the map data storage device 1. A search process such as a known Dijkstra method is performed to search for an optimal travel route that connects the current position of the host vehicle specified by the host vehicle current position specifying unit 11 and the destination set by the user.

  Based on the information on the travel route of the host vehicle searched by the route search unit 12 and the current position of the host vehicle specified by the host vehicle current position specifying unit 11, the guidance guide unit 13 sets the host vehicle as the search route. Guiding the vehicle to travel properly along the road. In particular, the guidance and guidance unit 13 provides guidance while displaying an enlarged view of the guidance target point on the display 7 when the vehicle approaches a guidance target point such as an intersection that becomes a right or left turn point on the searched route. Do.

  The map drawing unit 14 draws a map image to be displayed on the display 7 as a navigation screen. That is, the map drawing unit 14 determines the range of the map to be displayed based on the current position of the host vehicle specified by the host vehicle current position specifying unit 11, information on a user's operation input using the input device 6, and the like. The map data of the range specified and stored in the map data storage device 1 is read out, and a map image of the range is drawn based on the read map data. Further, the map drawing unit 14 draws an enlarged view of the guidance target point according to a command from the guidance guide unit 13 when the vehicle approaches a guidance target point such as an intersection that becomes a right or left turn point on the searched route. To do. At this time, if the guidance target point to be displayed is a circular intersection and the shape data indicating the shape of the circular intersection is stored in the point shape storage memory 5, the map drawing unit 14 stores the shape data. Based on the above, an enlarged view of the roundabout which is the guidance target point is drawn. In addition, when drawing an enlarged view of a roundabout or other guidance target point where shape data is not stored in the point shape storage memory 5, the map drawing unit 14 uses link data (road data) included in the map data. ) To draw an enlarged view of the guidance target point.

  An enlarged map of the guidance target point drawn by the map drawing unit 14 is superimposed with a vehicle position mark indicating the vehicle position and a search route line, and the map image drawn by the map drawing unit 14 includes: In addition to the vehicle position mark and the search route line, an icon of a facility landmark in the map and other additional information are superimposed and supplied to the display 7 as display data. Then, a display operation based on this display data is performed on the display 7 so that a map image corresponding to the user's operation, an enlarged view of the guidance target point, and the like are displayed as a navigation screen.

  The roundabout determination unit 15 is based on the information on the travel route of the host vehicle searched by the route search unit 12 and the current position of the host vehicle specified by the host vehicle current position specifying unit 11. It is determined whether or not the guidance target point that is about to be a roundabout. Specifically, the roundabout determination unit 15 specifies a guidance target point that is the guidance target point on the searched route and the vehicle is about to pass, and the node data of the node data constituting the guidance target point is identified. It is determined from the point characteristics and the road attribute of the link data whether the guidance target point is a roundabout. The determination result by the roundabout determination unit 15 is sent to the map drawing unit 14 and the spot shape estimation unit 16.

  The point shape estimation unit 16 determines that the guidance target point that the vehicle is about to pass is a roundabout by the roundabout determination unit 15, and the shape data of the roundabout is stored in the point shape storage memory 5. If not, the behavior of the own vehicle while passing through the roundabout is grasped, and the shape of the roundabout is estimated based on the behavior of the own vehicle. Specifically, the spot shape estimation unit 16 uses a gyro sensor signal from the gyro sensor 3 and a vehicle speed sensor while the vehicle passes a roundabout where no shape data is stored in the spot shape storage memory 5. Vehicle speed sensor signals are captured, based on these signals, the vehicle behavior such as how the direction of the vehicle changes according to the distance traveled, and how the vehicle passes through the roundabout Know what happened. And based on the locus | trajectory of the own vehicle at the time of this roundabout crossing, the shape of the said roundabout is estimated. The shape of the roundabout estimated by the spot shape estimation unit 16 is stored in the spot shape storage memory 5 as shape data.

  In the in-vehicle navigation device of the present embodiment configured as described above, every time the vehicle approaches the guidance target point while the vehicle is traveling on the route searched by the route search unit 12 of the navigation controller 8. Then, a command to draw an enlarged view is given from the guidance guide unit 13 to the map drawing unit 14. When the map drawing unit 14 receives an enlarged view drawing command from the guidance guide unit 13, the map drawing unit 14 draws an enlarged view of the guidance target point. At this time, when the guidance target point is not a roundabout, or when the guidance target point is a roundabout but its shape data is not stored in the point shape storage memory 5, the map drawing unit 14 displays the map data. An enlarged view of the guidance target point is drawn based on the node data and link data included in.

  Specifically, when the vehicle approaches a roundabout as shown in FIG. 3A, for example, if the shape data of the roundabout is not stored in the point shape storage memory 5, the map drawing unit 14 Draws an enlarged view of the roundabout as shown in FIG. 3C based on the node data and the link data expressed as shown in FIG. The vehicle position mark and the search route line are superimposed on the enlarged view of the roundabout and displayed on the display 7.

  When the driver of the host vehicle passes through the roundabout as shown in FIG. 3A, the driver determines the traveling direction of the host vehicle with reference to the enlarged view shown in FIG. However, for example, when the vehicle arrives at the point A in the figure, the road shape displayed in the enlarged view and the actual road shape are greatly different. There is a concern that the user may accidentally advance to the L2 route.

  Therefore, in the in-vehicle navigation device of the present embodiment, the point shape estimation unit 16 of the navigation controller 8 receives the gyro sensor signal from the gyro sensor 3 and the vehicle speed sensor while the host vehicle passes through such a roundabout. The vehicle speed sensor signals are taken in, the vehicle behavior is grasped based on these signals, the shape of the roundabout is estimated from the behavior of the host vehicle when passing through the roundabout, and the shape data is stored in the point shape storage memory 5. I try to remember it. When the vehicle next approaches the same roundabout, the map drawing unit 14 draws an enlarged view of the roundabout based on the shape data stored in the point shape storage memory 5. Yes. As a result, when the host vehicle approaches the same roundabout next time, as shown in FIG. 3D, for example, an accurate enlarged view of the roundabout can be displayed on the display 7 according to the actual shape. The inconvenience that the driver of the own vehicle makes a mistake in the traveling direction can be effectively suppressed.

  FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an outline of guidance guidance processing executed under the control of the navigation controller 8 in the in-vehicle navigation device of the present embodiment. Hereinafter, the outline of the guidance guidance process in the in-vehicle navigation device of the present embodiment will be described along the flowchart of FIG.

  The flow shown in FIG. 4 is started when the route search unit 12 of the navigation controller 8 searches for the travel route of the own vehicle in accordance with a user operation, and the searched route is set as the travel route of the own vehicle. The When the search route is set as the travel route of the host vehicle, first, in step S1, the guidance guide unit 13 of the navigation controller 8 causes the host vehicle to reach a predetermined distance (for example, 300 m) at a guidance target point on the search route. Whether it is approaching is monitored. When it is determined that the host vehicle has approached the guidance target point, in step S2, the roundabout determination unit 15 determines whether the guidance target point that the host vehicle is about to pass is a roundabout. To do.

  As a result of the determination in step S2, if it is determined that the guidance target point that the vehicle is about to pass is not a roundabout, the map drawing unit 14 stores the map data storage device 1 in step S3. Based on the node data and link data included in the existing map data, an enlarged view of the guidance target point is drawn. Then, an enlarged view of the guidance target point drawn based on the node data and the link data is displayed on the display 7. On the other hand, if it is determined that the guidance target point that the vehicle is about to pass is a roundabout, in step S4, the map drawing unit 14 stores the shape data indicating the shape of the roundabout in the point shape storage memory. If the shape data indicating the shape of the roundabout is stored in the point shape storage memory 5, the shape data is read from the point shape storage memory 5 in step S5. It reads out and draws an enlarged view of the roundabout that is the guidance target point based on this shape data. An enlarged view of the roundabout drawn based on this shape data is displayed on the display 7.

  On the other hand, when the guidance target point where the vehicle is about to pass is a roundabout, but the shape data indicating the shape is not stored in the point shape storage memory 5, the map drawing unit 14 in step S6, Based on the node data and link data included in the map data stored in the map data storage device 1, an enlarged view of the guidance target point is drawn. Then, an enlarged view of the roundabout drawn based on the node data and link data is displayed on the display 7. Thereafter, in step S7, the spot shape estimation unit 16 takes in the gyro sensor signal from the gyro sensor 3 and the vehicle speed sensor signal from the vehicle speed sensor while the host vehicle passes through the circular intersection, and uses these sensor signals. Based on the behavior of the vehicle at the time of passing through the roundabout, the shape of the roundabout is estimated. In step S8, the spot shape estimation unit 16 stores the shape of the roundabout estimated from the vehicle behavior in the spot shape storage memory 5 as shape data.

  In the in-vehicle navigation device of the present embodiment, the above process is repeated under the control of the navigation controller 8 until the host vehicle reaches the destination, and the travel route of the host vehicle is guided. And the above guidance guidance process is complete | finished when the own vehicle reaches | attains the destination.

  As described above in detail, in the in-vehicle navigation device of the present embodiment, when the host vehicle approaches the roundabout that is the guidance target point, the shape data of the roundabout is stored in the point shape storage memory 5. Then, an enlarged view of the roundabout is drawn based on the shape data and displayed on the display 7. If the roundabout shape data is not stored in the point shape storage memory 5, the roundabout An enlarged view is drawn and displayed on the display 7, and the shape of the roundabout is estimated based on the vehicle behavior when the vehicle passes the roundabout, and the shape is used as shape data to store the point shape memory 5. To remember.

  Therefore, according to the vehicle-mounted navigation device of the present embodiment, an accurate enlarged view of the roundabout that more closely matches the actual shape can be displayed on the display 7 for the roundabout that the vehicle has passed in the past. It is possible to effectively suppress the inconvenience that the driver of the own vehicle makes a mistake in the traveling direction. In addition, for roundabouts where the vehicle has not passed in the past, the shape data is stored in the shape memory 5 so that the next roundabout can be expanded accurately according to the actual shape. The figure can be displayed on the display 7.

  Note that when drawing an enlarged view of a roundabout based on digitized link data or node data, the problem of the enlarged view of the roundabout being displayed in an irregular shape will be A method of preparing display data of a default roundabout enlarged map that imitates the shape is also conceivable, but in this method, in order to accurately display the shape of all roundabouts, the default roundabout enlarged map It is necessary to prepare display data for each roundabout, which is not feasible, and it is difficult to superimpose the vehicle position mark on the default roundabout enlarged view, which is not practical. . On the other hand, in the in-vehicle navigation device of this embodiment, the shape is estimated based on the vehicle behavior when the vehicle actually passes the roundabout, and the estimated shape is displayed on the next roundabout enlarged view. Since the reflection is made, it is possible to display an accurate enlarged view of the roundabout according to the actual shape without causing the above problems.

  The on-vehicle navigation device described above exemplifies an embodiment of the present invention, and the present invention is not limited to the above example, and various modifications are of course possible. . For example, in the on-vehicle navigation device described above, only when the guidance target point where the vehicle is approaching is a roundabout, display an enlarged view based on shape data, shape estimation, and storage of shape data. However, the same processing may be performed for other guidance target points. However, it is not necessary to display an enlarged map based on shape data for a guide target point where an accurate enlarged map can be displayed based on link data or node data included in map data. For guidance target points where identification of a plurality of branch roads is relatively difficult, such as a character road, as in the above-described example, display of an enlarged view based on shape data, shape estimation, and storage of shape data It is desirable to do so.

It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the vehicle-mounted navigation apparatus to which this invention is applied. It is a functional block diagram which shows the function structure implement | achieved by the navigation controller of the vehicle-mounted navigation apparatus to which this invention is applied. It is a figure explaining the specific example of the process which displays the enlarged view of the roundabout which is a guidance object point on a display in the vehicle-mounted navigation apparatus to which this invention is applied, (a) is an example of the shape of the roundabout which the own vehicle passes The figure which shows node data and link data showing the circular intersection of the shape shown in (a), (c) is the figure which shows the roundabout drawn based on the node data and link data shown in (b) (D) is a figure which shows the enlarged view of the circular intersection drawn based on shape data. It is a flowchart which shows the outline | summary of the guidance guidance process performed with the vehicle-mounted navigation apparatus to which this invention is applied.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Map data storage device 2 GPS receiver 3 Gyro sensor 4 Vehicle speed sensor 5 Point shape memory 6 Input device 7 Display 8 Navigation controller 11 Own vehicle present position specifying part 12 Route search part 13 Guidance guide part 14 Map drawing part 15 Ring Intersection determination unit 16 Point shape estimation unit

Claims (4)

In the in-vehicle navigation device that performs guidance by displaying an enlarged view of the guidance target point when the vehicle approaches the guidance target point existing on the travel route of the vehicle,
Map data storage means for storing map data;
Map drawing means for drawing a map based on the map data stored in the map data storage means;
Vehicle behavior detecting means for detecting the vehicle behavior while the vehicle is passing the guidance target point;
Point shape estimating means for estimating the shape of a guidance target point through which the vehicle has passed based on information output from the vehicle behavior detecting means;
Point shape storage means for storing the shape of the guidance target point estimated by the point shape estimation means as shape data;
When the map drawing unit draws an enlarged view of the guidance target point and the shape data of the guidance target point is stored in the point shape storage unit, it is stored in the point shape storage unit. An in-vehicle navigation device that draws an enlarged view of the guidance target point based on shape data. The vehicle further includes a roundabout judging means for judging whether or not the guidance target point where the vehicle is about to pass is a roundabout where a plurality of branch roads are connected to the roundabout,
The point shape estimation means determines that the guidance target point where the vehicle is about to pass is determined as a roundabout by the roundabout determination means, and the shape data of the roundabout is not stored in the point shape storage means. 2. The in-vehicle navigation according to claim 1, wherein the shape of the roundabout is estimated based on information output from the vehicle behavior detecting means while the vehicle is passing the roundabout. apparatus. The in-vehicle navigation device according to claim 1, wherein the vehicle behavior detecting means includes a gyro sensor that detects a vehicle direction and a vehicle speed sensor that detects a vehicle speed. A method of displaying an enlarged view of a guidance target point when the vehicle approaches a guidance target point existing on the travel route of the vehicle,
The vehicle behavior while the vehicle is passing through the guidance target point is detected, the shape of the guidance target point that the vehicle has passed is estimated based on the vehicle behavior information, and the estimated shape of the guidance target point is the shape data. Is stored in the storage means as
When a vehicle approaches a guidance target point where shape data is stored in the storage unit, an enlarged view of the guidance target point is drawn and displayed based on the shape data stored in the storage unit. An enlarged map display method of the guidance target point.

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