JPH07114692A - Route guiding method - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To improve the visibility of a route on a navigation system which displays part or the whole of the route from a current place to a destination or passing point on a map screen. CONSTITUTION:The navigation device which updates and displays the current place on the map screen as shown in a figure (1) by a central processor corresponding to the azimuth and travel distance of a vehicle found by an earth magnetism sensor and a wheel speed sensor or displays it together with the route to the destination or passing point displays an indicator such as an arrow indicating the direction that should be taken on the route together as shown in a figure (2). The indicator preferably changes corresponding to the scale, background color, etc. Therefore, the driver can instantaneously recognize the direction to be taken and this method contributes to a safe drive.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for displaying a route to a destination or a waypoint on a map screen and providing guidance, which is suitably implemented in a so-called navigation device or the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art The navigation device is mounted on a vehicle and displays the vehicle position of the vehicle on a map screen.
It is a device that updates its display as the vehicle travels. Also, in recent years, in this navigation device, by inputting the current location and destination or waypoint,
From the current location to the destination or waypoint, for example, a route having the shortest distance is calculated, and a route search function for displaying the route as a recommended route is also added.

In a typical prior art, the roads on the searched route are displayed in a different color than the remaining roads.

[0004]

In the above-mentioned prior art,
Although the route is displayed, it is not displayed in the direction in which it should travel, so when the route makes complicated turns, the driver can instantly see the correct route and the direction in which to proceed. No, it is not desirable from the viewpoint of safe driving.

As a map screen display method, there has been proposed a device capable of switching between so-called north-up display for displaying north in the upward direction and head-up display for displaying in the upward direction a direction close to the traveling direction. There is. Therefore, in the case of such a device, for example, when traveling from north to south in the state where the north-up display is selected, the traveling direction is from the upper side to the lower side on the screen, which may cause erroneous recognition. is there.

An object of the present invention is to provide a route guidance method which allows a driver to accurately recognize a route to be taken.

[0007]

The present invention provides a method of displaying a preset route to be traveled on a map screen and providing guidance, wherein the route is marked with an index indicating the direction to proceed. It is a route guidance method characterized by displaying.

The present invention is also characterized in that the size of the index is changed according to the scale of the selected map screen.

Furthermore, the present invention is characterized in that at least the index is changed according to the color of the map screen as the background.

Further, the present invention is characterized in that the color of the index is selected to be a color close to a complementary color of a map screen as a background.

Furthermore, the index of the present invention is displayed for each section connecting points such as a break point and an intersection where a curve is approximated by a polygonal line, and the indexes adjacent to each other are spaced by a predetermined length on the display screen. It is characterized by being thinned out and displayed.

[0012]

According to the present invention, in a navigation device or the like that displays a preset route to a destination or a transit point on a map screen to advance and guides the route, an arrow or the like should advance to the route. It is displayed with an index indicating the direction.

Therefore, the driver is required to instantly recognize the direction in which to proceed, regardless of the display state such that the right and left turns are complicatedly repeated on the route or the north direction is displayed above the screen. Therefore, the safety can be improved.

Preferably, the size of the index such as the arrow is changed according to the scale of the selected map screen, or the color of the index is changed according to the color of the background map screen. , For example, by choosing a color close to the complementary color,
It may be displayed more clearly.

Still more preferably, the index is displayed for each section connecting points such as a break point and an intersection where a curve is approximated by a broken line, and the indexes are close to each other in a small scale condition. In such a case, the adjacent indexes are thinned and displayed so that the indexes adjacent to each other are spaced by a predetermined length on the display screen, for example, one index per cm on the screen. Thereby, the visibility can be further improved.

[0016]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an electrical configuration of a navigation device 1 in which a guidance method according to an embodiment of the present invention is used. The navigation device 1 is mounted on an automobile to display a current location and display a route guidance to a destination, and is useful for a driver's route determination and the like.

Therefore, roughly, in the navigation device 1, in response to the input operation to the operation keys 2, the central processing unit 3 realized by a microcomputer or the like, via the communication bus 10, the CD-ROM device. 4 is instructed to read the map information of the desired area. In response to the instruction, the processing circuit 5 reads the map information of the corresponding area from the map information recorded on the CD-ROM disk 7 which is a recording medium via the decoder 6. Thus the processing circuit 5
In response to the map information input from the above through the communication bus 10, the central processing unit 3 drives the display driving circuit 8 to display-drive the display device 9 realized by a liquid crystal display device or the like, The map screen display of the desired area is realized.

When the current position is set, as will be described later, the central processing unit 3 responds to the detection results of the geomagnetic sensor 12 and the wheel speed sensor 13 input from the processing circuit 11 via the communication bus 10. Then, the azimuth and distance traveled by the vehicle are calculated, the map information on the map screen corresponding to the current location is read from the CD-ROM device 4, and the map screen is scrolled and displayed together with the current location.

Further, the traveling locus of the own vehicle is compared with the road shape obtained from the map information at predetermined intervals, and the current position is corrected so that the traveling locus matches the road shape when turning right or left at an intersection, for example. Perform matching process. Thus, as indicated by reference numeral P11 in FIG. 2 (1), markers indicating the current position and the traveling direction of the vehicle are updated and displayed along with the traveling of the vehicle along with the map screen.

Further, as described above, the current position is input, and then the map screen is scrolled to allow the operator to search for a destination, set the position of the destination, and select the route search function. Thus, as shown in FIG. 2 (2), the recommended route having the shortest distance, for example, from the current position indicated by the reference sign P11 to the destination indicated by the reference sign P12 is calculated and displayed. Further, the operator can arbitrarily set a route by setting a desired waypoint.

The map information recorded on the CD-ROM disk 7 is referred to as a link connecting each node with the coordinates of a point such as a break point or an intersection, which is a curve approximated by a broken line, and each node. It is the distance of the road section, the road width of each link, the type of each link, such as a highway or a national road. The latitude and longitude of the set destination and transit point are stored with an accuracy of about 1/10 second, and when the route search is instructed, the latitude and longitude of the destination and transit point are the closest. The route to the point or link is searched.

Further, in this embodiment of the present invention, in displaying the route obtained as described above, as indicated by reference signs P15 to P20, an index indicating a direction to be traveled, which is indicated by an arrow, is indicated. It is also displayed.

The operation key 2 is the present position setting key 2a.
, Destination setting key 2b, waypoint setting key 2c, cursor key 2d, setting key 2e, route search key 2f
And a scale switching key 2g. The route display operation using these keys 2a to 2g will be described in detail below with reference to FIG.

When the present location setting key 2a of the operation keys 2 is operated and the present location can be set, a cursor is displayed on the map screen, and the cursor is moved to a desired position by operating the cursor key 2d. By operating the setting key 2e, the current position can be set as shown in FIG. 2 (1). Similarly, the destination and the waypoint can be set by operating the cursor key 2d and the setting key 2e after the operation of the destination setting key 2b and the waypoint setting key 2c.

The scale of the display screen is the scale switching key 2g.
By operating, for example, on the screen of the display device 9, from the state of displaying all over Japan, 1/15000
Switching can be performed in 8 steps up to the scale. Further, as described above, when the route search key 2f is operated after the current position and the destination or the waypoint are set, for example, the recommended route having the shortest distance is automatically calculated and the route shown in FIG. It is displayed as shown in 2). It should be noted that this route can be set as desired by the operator, for example, by setting a waypoint for each intersection that makes a right or left turn.

When the current position is not selected and the vehicle travels and the current position obtained from the detection results of the geomagnetic sensor 12 and the wheel speed sensor 13 changes, in response to an input from the processing circuit 11, The current location on the map screen is also updated and displayed.

FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram for explaining the route display operation as described above. When the current position and the destination or the waypoint are input from the input unit 21 such as the operation keys 2 and the processing circuit 11, the route search unit 22 causes the CD
-Map information is read from the ROM device 4 or the like as indicated by reference numeral 23, the read map information is stored in the storage unit 24, and arithmetic processing is performed by the data operation unit 25, and as described above, for example, the distance is the shortest. The route calculated so that or the route selected by the operator is output to the route guidance unit 26.

On the other hand, the map information is also used for the present location detection unit 2
7, the image in which the current location is added to the map screen is displayed and output by the output unit 28 of the display device 9 or the like. In the route guidance unit 26, the route input from the route search unit 22 is displayed on the output unit 28, and the current position detected by the current position detection unit 27 is compared with the additional information such as an intersection name and a road name. When it is time to display, it is output through the output unit 28. The output of the additional information may be performed not only by image display but also by voice display.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart for explaining the route display operation as described above. Based on the input operation from the operation keys 2 and the output from the processing circuit 11,
In step n1, a route search from the current location to the destination or the waypoint is performed. In step n2, the road corresponding to the searched route is displayed in a different color from other roads. At step n3, an arrow is also displayed on the route. In step n4, the vehicle position calculated by the processing circuit 11 is read, and in step n5, reference numeral P1 in FIG. 3 corresponds to the read position.
The vehicle marker indicated by 1 is displayed.

Therefore, not only the route that the vehicle should travel but also the direction that the vehicle should travel are displayed. Therefore, even if the route complicatedly makes right and left turns, or the north direction is displayed above the screen. , Regardless of the display state,
The driver can instantly recognize the correct route without causing misunderstanding, and the safety can be improved.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of route display according to another embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, the scale switching key 2
Corresponding to the scale selected by g, for example, when the scale is small, the shape of the arrow is displayed in a small size as shown in FIG.
The arrow is displayed large as shown in (2). Furthermore, the arrow is selected to have a color close to a complementary color of the background, for example, corresponding to the background color of the path such as the ground, the green area, or the water surface.

That is, FIG. 6 is a flow chart for explaining the display operation shown in FIG. 5, and this embodiment is similar to the embodiment shown in FIG. 4 described above, and the same reference numerals are given to corresponding parts. Attach. In this embodiment, when the route display is completed in step n2, the process proceeds to step n11,
The scale selected by the scale switching key 2g is read. In step n12, the background color is read. Corresponding to the result read in this way, in step n13, as shown in FIG. 5 (1) or FIG. 5 (2), the arrow of the size corresponding to the scale is changed to the easily recognizable color corresponding to the background color. Is displayed.

By thus changing the size and color of the arrow corresponding to the scale and background color,
The visibility can be further improved. The color of the selected route may be the same as the color of the arrow, and the size and color of the arrow may be arbitrarily set according to the preference of the operator.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of route display according to still another embodiment of the present invention. In each of the above embodiments, an arrow is displayed for each link. Therefore, for example, in a mountain road with continuous curves or an urban area with continuous intersections, when the distance between the links is short and therefore the scale is small, the arrows are continuous as shown in FIG. 7 (1). Therefore, in this embodiment, as shown in FIG.
Each time the total length L of the links becomes equal to or longer than the length Lth corresponding to the scale, for example, when the display device 9 has a 6-inch display screen, the arrow is thinned out every 1 cm on the screen.

FIG. 8 is a flow chart for explaining the route display operation as described above, which is similar to the above-mentioned embodiment and the same reference numerals are given to corresponding parts. Step n
When the display of the route searched in 2 is completed, step n21
And the total length L of the link is initialized to 0,
In step n22, the variable i is initialized to 0.

In step n23, the variable i is incremented by 1 and updated, and in step n24, the length of the variable i-th link length ΔLi is read out, and step n2
At 5, the length ΔLi is added to the total length L, and the total length L is updated. In step n26, it is determined whether or not the updated total length L is equal to or more than the length Lth. If so, the process proceeds to step n27, an arrow is displayed, and then the process proceeds to step n28. If not, the process directly goes to step n28. Step n
In 28, the length Δ of all links on the set route
It is determined whether or not the reading of Li is completed. If not, the process returns to step n23, and if so, the process proceeds to steps n4 to n5 to display the vehicle marker.

The distance Lth may be obtained from Lth = K * L0 by multiplying the length L0 set for each scale by the coefficient K set for each scale.

In this way, by thinning and displaying the arrows corresponding to the scale, it is possible to further easily display the direction in which to proceed.

In addition to this embodiment, the size and color of the arrow in the above embodiment may be changed.
Further, although the vehicle position and the vehicle direction are detected by the geomagnetic sensor 12 and the wheel speed sensor 13, as another embodiment of the present invention, the current position is determined by triangulation by receiving a signal from a satellite orbiting the earth. The present location may be measured using a so-called GPS (Global Positioning System) for measurement, and further, instead of the geomagnetic sensor 12, another direction sensor such as a vibration gyro sensor or an optical fiber gyro sensor may be used. Good.

[0040]

As described above, according to the present invention, when displaying a route to a destination or a waypoint, an index such as an arrow indicating a direction to be traveled is also displayed, so that the route is complicated. The driver can promptly recognize the route regardless of the display state such as turning left and right repeatedly or displaying the north direction at the top of the screen, thus improving safety. .

Preferably, the size of the index such as the arrow is changed according to the scale of the selected map screen, or the color of the index is changed according to the color of the background map screen. , For example, by choosing a color close to the complementary color,
It may be displayed more clearly.

Still more preferably, the indexes are displayed for each section connecting points such as break points and intersections where a curve is approximated by a polygonal line, and the indexes are close to each other, for example, in a small scale state. When it is displayed, the visibility is further improved by thinning and displaying so that the indexes adjacent to each other are spaced by a predetermined length on the display screen, for example, one per cm on the screen. Can be improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an electrical configuration of a navigation device 1 in which a guidance method according to an embodiment of the present invention is used.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a display example of a current location and a recommended route according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram for explaining a route display operation according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a route display operation according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a route display example of another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart for explaining the route display operation of the embodiment shown in FIG.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a route display example according to still another embodiment of the present invention.

8 is a flow chart for explaining the route display operation of the embodiment shown in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 navigation device 2 operation key 2a present position setting key 2b destination setting key 2d cursor key 2f route search key 3 central processing unit 4 CD-ROM device 5, 11 processing circuit 9 display device 12 geomagnetic sensor 13 wheel speed sensor

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A method for guiding a preset route to be displayed on a map screen, wherein the route is displayed with an index indicating a direction to proceed. Guide method. 2. The route guidance method according to claim 1, wherein the size of the index is changed according to the scale of the selected map screen. 3. The method according to claim 1, wherein at least the index is changed according to a color of a map screen as a background.
The route guidance method described. 4. The route guidance method according to claim 3, wherein the color of the index is selected to be a color close to a complementary color of the background map screen. 5. The index is displayed for each section connecting points such as a break point and an intersection where a curve is approximated by a broken line, and the indexes adjacent to each other are spaced by a predetermined length on a display screen. The route guidance method according to claim 1, wherein the route guidance method is displayed by thinning.