JPH11148837A - Navigation device attached to helmet - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a navigation device appropriate for such a vehicle as a motorcycle wherein a helmet is used. SOLUTION: A navigation unit 9 which outputs signals of current position information, advancing direction information, etc., based on the signal from a GPS receiver 1 set to an appropriate place of a motorcycle (vehicle) B, an image display device 11 which, attached to a helmet 19 of a driver (user) A of the vehicle B, receives the signal for projecting an image, and a combiner 16 which, attached to the helmet 10 of the driver A, focuses the image as a virtual image, are provided.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a navigation device for guiding a user of a vehicle, and more particularly, to a helmet-mounted navigation device suitable for a vehicle used by mounting a helmet such as a motorcycle.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Map information is stored in a storage device, and detection signals from a group of traveling state detection sensors such as an azimuth sensor, an angular velocity sensor, and a distance sensor installed in a vehicle, and a device called a GPS uses a latitude from a satellite. And a position signal such as longitude information, and either or both of the detection signal and the position signal, measure the current position of the vehicle, and read map information from the storage device based on the measurement result. Various navigation devices have been put to practical use for performing route guidance by displaying the current location on a display device (for example, see Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 6-88831).

[0003] Such a navigation device is provided with driving information (for example, departure when a driver sets a route in advance, around the current position or in response to a request of a user (for example, a driver) in accordance with the present position that changes every moment. The distance and elapsed time from the ground, the distance to the destination, the estimated arrival time, and route guidance) are read out from the storage device, and the liquid crystal display element (LC
D), a planar display that shows a combination of arrows, symbols, characters, numbers, and symbols in map information displayed on a display device such as a cathode ray tube (CRT) or enlarged map information (for example, 8-16988 gazette).

[0004]

Generally, such a navigation device is considered to be mainly mounted on a vehicle such as an automobile or a railroad vehicle. For example, the navigation device is operated like a vehicle such as a motorcycle or a snowmobile. It was difficult to mount it on vehicles with little space in front of the driver.

That is, as a display device for displaying the current position, a wide display area (at least about 5 inches) is desirable in order to ensure good display legibility, and a space for installing such a display device in a motorcycle or the like is desirable. There is no.

In order to solve this problem, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 9-3
As disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 9867, a device called a head-up display, in which a combiner is provided on a windshield of a motorcycle and information from a small display is irradiated on the combiner to display an enlarged image. It has been known.

However, in a vehicle such as a motorcycle or a snowmobile compared with a vehicle such as an automobile or a railroad vehicle, the driving posture of the driver changes frequently, and accordingly, the driver's eye point also changes. The above-described device that forms an image at a substantially constant range position still has a difficulty in readability.

The present invention has been made in view of such a problem, and has as its object to provide a helmet-mounted navigation device suitable for a vehicle used by mounting a helmet such as a motorcycle.

[0009]

According to the present invention, there is provided a navigation unit which is installed at an appropriate place in a vehicle and outputs signals such as current position information and traveling direction information based on a signal from a GPS receiver. And, while receiving a signal from the navigation unit and forming an image,
An image display device mounted on the helmet, which projects information as a virtual image that can be instantaneously read by projecting the information on a combiner mounted on the helmet of the vehicle user.

[0010] Further, the present invention for solving the above-mentioned problems includes a navigation unit which is installed at an appropriate place of a vehicle and outputs signals such as current position information and traveling direction information based on a signal from a GPS receiver. It has a sound reproducing device mounted on a helmet of the user of the vehicle, which utters information of a degree that can be instantly recognized upon receiving a signal from the unit.

[0011]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Before driving a motorcycle B, a driver A inputs in advance a region data to be route-guided, for example, landmark data such as a departure point, a destination and an intermediate land in the storage device 6. In accordance with a change in position due to driving, a signal from the navigation unit 9 based on a position signal from the GPS receiver 1 is used to display the image display device 11.
Forms information based on the signal as a virtual image. At this time, the displayed content is not general map information in the navigation device, but is instantaneous information such as numerical information such as a distance to a destination and estimated arrival time, or simple image information of an approaching intersection or a target area. Make the information legible. Thereby, even if the display area is limited like the combiner 16 attached to the helmet 10,
The information that is effective in the driving operation can be displayed in a size necessary for recognition, and the route guidance can be favorably performed.

Further, in response to a signal from the navigation unit 9 based on the position signal from the GPS receiver 1, the audio reproducing device 19 utters information based on the signal. Thereby, it is possible to change the expression of the navigation while minimizing the increase in the burden on the visual sense of the driver A, and it is possible to perform the route guidance satisfactorily.

[0013]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described with reference to the embodiments shown in the accompanying drawings assuming that the motorcycle is used by a driver.

1 to 3 show a first embodiment.
Reference numeral 1 denotes a GPS receiver that receives position signals from a plurality of satellites, and is installed at an appropriate position on the body of the motorcycle B capable of receiving the position signals.

Data relating to the position signal from the GPS receiver 1 is transmitted to an interface 2 for performing A / D conversion and the like.
The CPU 3 calculates the movement amount and the like based on this data and executes calculations for performing various image data processing. Then, a RAM 4 in which necessary information is written and read when executing the program, a ROM 5 in which various processing programs of the CPU 3 and necessary information are stored in advance, a starting point, a destination, an intermediate place, and the like to be route-guided. A storage device 6 including a storage medium such as an EEPROM, a CD-ROM, or an IC card to which landmark data has been input in advance;
The image controller 7 which outputs signals such as current position information and traveling direction information in response to commands from the PU 3 and various commands such as setting of routes by the driver A
Input device 8 consisting of input operation members such as switches to send to
Are integrally housed in a case to constitute a navigation unit 9, which is installed at an appropriate place of the motorcycle B and receives power supply from a battery (not shown) of the vehicle.

A signal from the image controller 7 is sent to an image display device 11 mounted on a helmet 10 used by the driver A. The image display device 11 is a so-called head-mounted display (for example, see Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 143577/1995).
Is received by the receiving device 12 of the image display device 11 as a wireless signal such as an infrared signal or an ultrasonic signal, and the received signal is converted into an image by the display device 14 such as an LCD by the conversion means 13, and is converted into a halogen lamp. Light source 1
5 and projected onto the combiner 16 mounted on the helmet 10 so as to be located in front of the field of view of the driver A, a display based on the signal is formed as a virtual image in front of the field of view of the driver A. These are dedicated batteries (not shown) mounted on the helmet 10.
From the power supply.

The above is the configuration of the helmet-mounted navigation device according to the present invention. Next, route guidance will be described.

Before driving the motorcycle B, the driver A stores area data to be route-guided in advance, for example, landmark data such as a starting point, a destination, and an intermediate place.
Enter in. After that, according to the position change due to driving,
In response to a signal from the navigation unit 9 based on the position signal from the GPS receiver 1, the image display device 11 forms information based on the signal as a virtual image. On this occasion,
The display content is not general map information in the navigation device, but can be instantly read, for example, numerical information such as a distance to a destination and expected arrival time, or simple image information of an approaching intersection or a target area. It is characterized by the information of the degree. As a result, even if the display area is limited, such as the combiner 16 attached to the helmet 10, information effective for driving operation can be displayed in a size necessary for recognition, and the route guidance is improved. Can be done.

FIG. 4 shows a second embodiment.
The same or corresponding parts as those in the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and the reference numerals not shown in FIG.

In this helmet-mounted navigation device, an audio controller (not shown) for outputting signals such as current position information and traveling direction information in accordance with a command from the CPU 3 is provided in the navigation unit 9, and information corresponding to the current position is transmitted by the radio signal. And can be sent to a sound reproducing device built in the helmet 10 for use. That is, a signal from the audio controller is transmitted to the helmet 10 via, for example, the signal line 18 and transmitted to the driver A from an audio reproducing device 19 such as an earphone or a speaker embedded in the helmet 10. These are the helmet 10
Power is supplied from a dedicated battery (not shown) attached to the power supply.

Before driving the motorcycle B, the driver A inputs in advance the area data to be route-guided to the storage device 6. After that, according to the position change due to driving, GPS
In response to a signal from the navigation unit 9 based on the position signal from the receiver 1, the sound reproducing device 19 utters information based on the signal. At this time, the utterance content is characterized in that it is numerical information such as a distance to a destination and an estimated arrival time, or information that can be instantly recognized, such as guidance information of an approaching intersection or a target area. . As a result, an increase in the burden on the driver A's vision can be minimized. Then, the expression of the navigation can be varied, such as increasing the right voice for a right turn and increasing the left voice for a left turn, so that the route guidance can be performed well.

Therefore, in the second embodiment, the image display device 11 described in the first embodiment is not necessarily connected to the helmet 1
It is not necessary to mount the display unit on the motorcycle B, and the display unit 20 may be configured as a direct-view small display device 20 for displaying a real image and mounted on the motorcycle B similarly to the navigation unit 9, and preferably, disposed in front of the driver A's field of view. As described above, the small display device 20 displays numerical information such as the distance to the destination and the estimated arrival time, or information that can be instantly read such as simple image information of an approaching intersection or a target area. The display area is smaller than that of a general navigation device, and the problem of the installation space hardly occurs. Of course, a combination of the first embodiment and the second embodiment is also possible.

As described above, the navigation device (the image display device 11 and / or the audio device 19) is connected to the helmet 10
Can be used even for vehicles that have a small space in front of the driver, such as vehicles such as motorcycles and snowmobiles. In addition, it can be seen that there is no problem even if the driving posture of the driver A changes frequently and the eye point of the driver A changes accordingly. Therefore, it is a vehicle that has little space in front of the driver, such as a vehicle such as a motorcycle or a snowmobile, and the driver's driving posture changes frequently, and the driver's eye point changes accordingly. Suitable for the elderly.

[0024]

According to the present invention, by adding a navigation device to a helmet, it is possible to use even a vehicle having a small space such as a vehicle such as a motorcycle or a snowmobile. In addition, there is no problem even if the driving posture of the user such as the driver changes frequently and the eye point of the user changes accordingly. Therefore, it is possible to provide a navigation device suitable for a vehicle to be used with a helmet mounted thereon.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a circuit configuration according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a use state of the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram illustrating the configuration of the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a configuration of a second embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 1 GPS receiver 3 CPU 6 Storage device 7 Image controller 9 Navigation unit 10 Helmet 11 Image display device 14 Display element 16 Combiner 19 Sound reproduction device 20 Small display device A Driver (user) B Motorcycle (vehicle)

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A navigation unit which is installed at an appropriate place in a vehicle and outputs signals such as current position information and traveling direction information based on a signal from a GPS receiver. A helmet mounted on the helmet of the vehicle, wherein the helmet is mounted on the helmet of the user of the vehicle by projecting the information on the helmet to a virtual image. Navigation device. 2. A navigation unit which is installed at an appropriate place in a vehicle and outputs signals such as current position information and traveling direction information based on a signal from a GPS receiver, and is capable of instantaneously recognizing a signal from the navigation unit. A helmet-mounted navigation device comprising a sound reproducing device mounted on a helmet of a user of the vehicle that utters a certain amount of information.