JP5003537B2 - Vehicle navigation device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a vehicle navigation apparatus that can set a destination roughly from a wide area map.

Conventionally, for example, Patent Document 1 proposes a navigation device for easily inputting a point such as a destination or a passing point on a displayed map. Specifically, in Patent Document 1, when a point on a map instructed by a switch or the like is scrolled to the center of the screen of the display and an instruction to set the point is made by a switch or the like, the map data is switched to a predetermined scale. A navigation device for displaying has been proposed. According to this, when trying to set the destination in the wide area map, the map screen is automatically switched to the detailed map, so that it is possible to set the destination individually and specifically from the detailed map.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 7-190789

  Roughly, there is a user's request to know the route to “this neighborhood” or “a certain area”. However, in the above conventional technique, when the user tries to set the destination in the wide area map, the map screen automatically switches to the detailed map, and the destination must be determined individually and specifically from the detailed map. I must. For this reason, it is not possible to satisfy a user's request for a rough route search (for example, a travel plan or a time plan) using a wide area map.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a vehicular navigation device that can set a rough destination in a wide area view.

In order to achieve the above object, in the first and second aspects of the invention, for a vehicle that determines and guides a final destination for route guidance from a point (22) selected from a map. When a point (22) is selected from the map by the user, the navigation device acquires the coordinates of the point (22) and the scale of the map, and a predetermined landmark corresponding to the scale of the map Is selected from a certain range including the coordinates of the point (22) and determined as a temporary destination (24, 25), and a route search from the current position (28) to the temporary destination (24, 25) is performed. A means for performing (100 to 104, 201 to 204), a means for displaying a detailed view including the temporary destination (24, 25) (106), and a temporary destination (24 25) is the final purpose Is selected from the route search result from the current position (28) to the final destination, and the route search result from the current position (28) to the final destination is the final result. And a means (110) for guiding to a specific destination.

  As a result, it is possible to roughly estimate the point desired by the user from the map, and by setting a landmark near the point as the estimated destination, it is possible to obtain the estimated destination from the current position (28). Route search and guidance can be performed. In this case, the route can be searched without the user knowing the name of the destination or a representative facility.

In the invention described in claim 3 , when a destination different from the temporary destination (24, 25) is selected by the user from the detailed drawings, the destination is different from the temporary destination (24, 25). Means are provided for determining a place as a final destination and searching for a route from the current position (28) to the final destination (107, 108).

  Thereby, even if there is a difference between the point requested by the user and the estimated destination, the user can correct the final destination by himself. If the destination is corrected by the user, it is only necessary to perform a route search again to the corrected destination, so that the route guidance as requested by the user can be performed.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, a plurality of landmarks are determined as temporary destinations (24, 25), priorities are assigned to the determined plurality of temporary destinations (24, 25), and the user's From the search history, the priority order of the plurality of temporary destinations (24, 25) is changed according to the user's preference, and the route from the current position (28) to the higher-priority temporary destinations (24, 25). It has the means (100-104, 201-207) which performs a search, It is characterized by the above-mentioned.

  Thereby, a destination can be estimated according to a user's preference, and a user-friendly navigation device can be provided.

In the invention according to claim 2 , after acquiring the scale of the map, a representative facility predetermined in consideration of the scale of the map is selected from a predetermined range including the coordinates of the point (22). And means (204) for determining the temporary destination (24, 25). Thereby, a route search using the facility as a temporary destination (24, 25) can be performed.

  In addition, the code | symbol in the bracket | parenthesis of each said means shows the correspondence with the specific means as described in embodiment mentioned later.

(First embodiment)
Hereinafter, a first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of a vehicle navigation apparatus 10 according to the present embodiment. The vehicle navigation device 10 includes a position detector 11, an image display device 12, an operation unit 13, a speaker 14, a map data acquisition unit 15, and a control circuit 16.

  The position detector 11 includes a well-known sensor (not shown) such as a geomagnetic sensor, a gyroscope, a vehicle speed sensor, and a GPS receiver. The current position and direction of the vehicle based on the characteristics of each of these sensors. , And information for specifying the speed is output to the control circuit 16.

  The image display device 12 displays a video based on the video signal output from the control circuit 16 to the user. Examples of the display image include a map centering on the current location.

  The operation unit 13 includes a plurality of mechanical switches provided in the vehicle navigation device 10 and an input device such as a touch panel provided on the display surface of the image display device 12. The user presses the mechanical switch and touches the touch panel. Is output to the control circuit 16.

  The map data acquisition unit 15 includes a nonvolatile storage medium such as a DVD, a CD, and an HDD, and a device that reads data (and writes data if possible) to the storage medium. The storage medium stores a program executed by the control circuit 16, map data for route guidance, and the like.

  The map data has road data and facility data. The road data includes link position information, type information, node position information, type information, information on connection relations between nodes and links, and the like. The facility data has a plurality of records for each facility, and each record has data indicating name information, location information, land lot number information, facility type information, and the like of the target facility.

  A control circuit (corresponding to a computer) 16 is a microcomputer having a CPU, RAM, ROM, I / O and the like. The CPU executes a program for the operation of the vehicle navigation device 10 read from the ROM or the map data acquisition unit 15, reads information from the RAM, the ROM, and the map data acquisition unit 15 when executing the program. Information is written to the storage medium of the map data acquisition unit 15 (if possible), and signals are exchanged with the position detector 11, the image display device 12, the operation unit 13, and the speaker 14.

  Specific processing performed by the control circuit 16 executing the program includes current position specifying processing, guidance route calculation processing, route guidance processing, and the like.

  The current position specifying process is a process for specifying the current position and direction of the vehicle based on a signal from the position detector 11 using a known technique such as map matching.

  The guidance route calculation process is a process of receiving an approximate destination input by the user from the operation unit 13 and calculating an optimum guidance route from the current position to the destination.

  In the route guidance process, map data is read from the map data acquisition unit 15, and an image in which the calculated guide route, destination, waypoint, current position, and the like are superimposed on the map indicated by the map data is displayed on the image display device 12. This is a process for outputting the guidance voice for instructing the right turn, the left turn, etc. to the speaker 14 when necessary, such as when the host vehicle arrives before the guidance intersection. The above is the hardware configuration of the vehicle navigation apparatus 10 according to the present embodiment.

  Next, a method for searching for a route by setting a rough destination by the user and estimating the destination desired by the user from the destination in the vehicle navigation apparatus 10 will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the contents of route search from the destination roughly set by the user. As shown in FIG. 3, the flow starts when a selection button “Destination setting 21” is displayed on the screen 20 displayed on the image display device 12.

  First, in step 100, a destination is determined on the map. This is determined by the user selecting a destination setting 21 button after the user touches a point 22 that is a rough destination in the screen 20 shown in FIG. Is done.

  In step 101, it is determined whether or not to use the wide area map setting mode. The “wide area map setting mode” is a mode in which the destination is set without changing the scale, and the user can roughly set the destination. The mode is set in advance in software or selected by the user from a selection screen displayed on the screen 20.

  If the wide area map setting mode is not used, the process proceeds to step 106. On the other hand, when using the wide area map setting mode, the process proceeds to step 102.

  In step 102, destination estimation is performed. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the contents of the destination estimation. First, in step 201, the coordinates of the point 22 selected by the user from the map are acquired. “Coordinates” are absolute coordinates, and indicate longitude and latitude.

  Subsequently, in step 202, the scale of the map is acquired. For example, since the map scale is 100 km on the screen 20 shown in FIG. 3, the scale of 100 km is acquired.

  In step 203, the destination estimation range is determined. This means that a certain range including the absolute coordinates acquired in step 202 is determined. It may be a certain range centered on absolute coordinates.

  In step 204, a destination estimation method is determined. In the present embodiment, a representative facility is determined as the estimated destination in consideration of the scale of the map acquired in step 202. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a list of facilities as destinations according to the scale of the map. As shown in this figure, each facility is set in consideration of the scale of the map. For example, when the scale of the map is 26 km or more, the facility at the prefecture level is displayed on the map so that the facility at the prefecture level can be seen. Therefore, the representative facility at the prefecture level (Tokyo Metropolitan Government or Tokyo Dome) is set as the destination. Thus, in this step, the estimated destination is determined according to the list of FIG. In this case, one estimated destination is determined or a plurality of estimated destinations are determined with priorities. The estimated destination selected in this step is a temporary destination.

  In step 205, it is determined whether or not the user's preference is taken into account. This is determined based on whether it is set in advance in software or selected by a user from a selection screen displayed on the screen 20. If the user's preference is not considered in this step, the destination estimation process shown in FIG. 4 ends. On the other hand, if the user's preference is taken into consideration, the process proceeds to step 206.

  In step 206, the destination point is narrowed down by the user's preference. For example, destinations that meet the user's preference are narrowed down by an inference engine (a machine learning method such as a Bayesian network, a neural network, or a fuzzy) generated from a search history. As a result, the priorities of the plurality of destinations determined in step 204 are changed and changed. That is, the priority order as a destination such as a facility that can be a destination is changed according to the user's preference. Thus, the estimated destination that matches the user's preference is set as a temporary destination.

  In step 207, the destination point is calculated from the estimation range / estimation method. In this step, it is determined in step 206 that the temporary destination having a high priority is the destination desired by the user. There may be a plurality of temporary destinations determined in this step. Thus, the destination estimation process ends.

  After step 102 shown in FIG. 2, in step 103, the destination is set as the estimated point. The estimated point is a temporary destination, that is, the goal point of the route.

  In step 104, the route, time, and distance are displayed. That is, a route search is performed based on the goal point set in step 103. As shown in FIG. 3, the screen 20 displays a point 22 selected by the user and its route 23.

  In step 105, it is determined whether or not to shift to the detailed map setting mode. Here, the “detailed map setting mode” is a mode in which the destination is set within a small scale. When the user touches a different point on the screen 20 or performs a remote control operation, the process returns to step 100 without shifting to the detailed map setting mode, and steps 100 to 104 are executed again.

  On the other hand, when the user selects a point 22 in the screen 20 shown in FIG. 3 by touching or operating a remote controller, or when a predetermined time has elapsed, the detailed map setting mode is entered. In this case, the process proceeds to step 106.

  In step 106, a detailed map is displayed. That is, as shown in FIG. 6, a map with a small scale is displayed. In FIG. 6, two temporary destinations 24 and 25 and two routes 26 and 27 connected to the respective destinations 24 and 25 are displayed on the screen 20. In addition, as described above, the number of temporary destinations depends on the number of facilities around the goal point, etc., and only one location may be displayed, or three or more temporary destinations may be displayed. There is also.

  In step 107, the destination is set. That is, when one of the destinations 24 and 25 shown in FIG. 6 is selected by touching or remote control by the user and the destination setting 21 button is pressed, the selected destination is set. The The destination set in this step is the final destination. When the detailed map is displayed in step 106 after proceeding from step 100 to step 106 instead of the wide area map setting mode, any point of the detailed map is selected by the user by touch or remote control operation, and the destination setting is performed. When the 21 button is pressed, the point 22 is set as the destination.

  In step 108, a route search from the current position 28 shown in FIG. 3 to the final destination selected in step 107 is performed. Then, the route, time and distance are displayed on the screen 20, and it is determined in step 109 whether or not to start the guidance. And if guidance start is selected by the user, it will progress to Step 110 and guidance to the final destination will be started.

  On the other hand, if the user does not select the guidance start in step 109, for example, if an operation such as “return” is performed, the process returns to step 107. When the user selects a different destination in step 107, a route search for a new destination and its display are performed in step 108, and it is determined in step 109 whether guidance is to be started. If the user is not satisfied with the destination point, steps 107 to 109 are repeated. The destination reselected by the user also corresponds to the final destination of the present invention.

  When the guidance in step 110 is completed and the flow shown in FIG. 2 is completed, for example, the current position of the vehicle is displayed on the screen 20.

  As described above, the present embodiment is characterized in that the point 22 selected by the user in the wide area map is estimated as a rough destination. That is, since the destination is estimated from a certain range including the point 22 selected by the user (step 102), a route search using the estimated destination as the goal point becomes possible. This estimated destination can be derived according to a certain rule as shown in FIG. 5, for example. In this way, the user can roughly set the destination from the wide area map.

  In addition, even after an approximate destination is determined, the estimated destination can be corrected with the detailed map, so it is possible to set the goal point according to the user's request in detail.

(Other embodiments)
The hardware configuration of the vehicle navigation device 10 shown in FIG. 1 is an example, and components may be added according to the function of the navigation device 10. For example, in order to acquire road traffic information, a receiver that can wirelessly communicate with a roadside device may be provided.

  In the above embodiment, the list of facilities shown in FIG. 5 is shown as the estimated destination, but the destination estimation method may be determined based on other criteria. For example, it is not limited to a facility, but a landmark including a building that can be a destination can be held in advance, and an estimated destination can be determined from the landmark. When an estimated destination is determined from landmarks, the landmark is a point where a route can be calculated.

  In FIG. 5, representative facilities are set in advance in consideration of the scale of the map, but information on representative facilities with respect to the scale of the map is rewritten as needed, for example, by a learning function of the vehicle navigation device. It doesn't matter. Therefore, even if a representative facility is determined in advance according to the scale of the map, the representative facility may be added, deleted, or changed by the learning function. In this case, what is rewritten by the learning function becomes a “predetermined representative facility”.

  Note that the steps shown in each figure correspond to means for realizing the functions, and each step in the flowcharts shown in FIGS. 2 and 4 can be configured as hardware.

It is the figure which showed the hardware constitutions of the navigation apparatus for vehicles which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is the flowchart which showed the content which performs a route search from the destination which the user set roughly. It is the figure which displayed the wide view on the screen of the image display apparatus. It is the flowchart which showed the content of the destination estimation. It is the figure which showed the list of the facilities used as the destination according to a reduced scale. It is the figure which displayed the detailed figure on the screen of an image display apparatus.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Vehicle navigation apparatus 11 Position detector 12 Image display apparatus 13 Operation part 14 Speaker 15 Map data acquisition part 16 Control circuit 20 Screen 21 Destination setting 22 Point 23, 26, 27 Route 24, 25 Temporary destination 28 Current position

Claims (3)

A vehicle navigation apparatus for determining and guiding a final destination for route guidance from a point (22) selected from a map,
When the point (22) is selected from the map by the user, the coordinates of the point (22) and the scale of the map are acquired, and landmarks determined in advance corresponding to the scale of the map are selected. Select from a certain range including the coordinates of the point (22), determine as a temporary destination (24, 25), and search for a route from the current position (28) to the temporary destination (24, 25). Means for performing (100 to 104, 201 to 204);
Means (106) for displaying a detailed view including the temporary destination (24, 25);
When the user selects the temporary destination (24, 25) as the final destination from the detailed map, a route search from the current position (28) to the final destination is performed. Means (107, 108) for performing
Means (110) for guiding to the final destination from a route search result from the current position (28) to the final destination ;
Further, a plurality of landmarks are determined as temporary destinations (24, 25), priorities are assigned to the determined plurality of temporary destinations (24, 25), and the user's preference is determined from the user search history. The priority order of the plurality of temporary destinations (24, 25) is changed in accordance with the above, and a route search from the current position (28) to the temporary destinations (24, 25) higher in the priority order is performed. A vehicle navigation apparatus comprising means for performing (100 to 104, 201 to 207) . A vehicle navigation apparatus for determining and guiding a final destination for route guidance from a point (22) selected from a map,
When the point (22) is selected from the map by the user, the coordinates of the point (22) and the scale of the map are acquired, and landmarks determined in advance corresponding to the scale of the map are selected. Select from a certain range including the coordinates of the point (22), determine as a temporary destination (24, 25), and search for a route from the current position (28) to the temporary destination (24, 25). Means for performing (100 to 104, 201 to 204);
Means (106) for displaying a detailed view including the temporary destination (24, 25);
When the user selects the temporary destination (24, 25) as the final destination from the detailed map, a route search from the current position (28) to the final destination is performed. Means (107, 108) for performing
Means (110) for guiding to the final destination from a route search result from the current position (28) to the final destination ;
Further, after acquiring the scale of the map, a representative facility predetermined in consideration of the scale of the map is selected from a certain range including the coordinates of the point (22), and a temporary destination ( 24. A vehicle navigation device comprising means (204) for determining as 24, 25) . When a destination different from the temporary destination (24, 25) is selected by the user from the detailed map, a destination different from the temporary destination (24, 25) is selected as the final destination. The vehicle according to claim 1 or 2 , further comprising means (107, 108) for determining a destination and searching for a route from the current position (28) to the final destination. Navigation device.

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