JP2000055675A - Map display device for vehicle and its method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To easily recognize an actual road condition from a three-dimensional map. SOLUTION: An image producing portion 23 of a navigation control portion 3 produces a three-dimensional map stereoscopically representing a map indication point. An external communication device 21 takes a dynamic information such as weather and traffic information from the outside of a vehicle. A three- dimensional map image reflecting the dynamic information is produced and is indicated on a display 15. Since the three-dimensional map indicated is approached to an actual landscape, a user can intuitively and easily recognize an actual road condition.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an apparatus and a method for displaying a three-dimensional map on a vehicle, and more particularly to an apparatus and method for displaying the status of a map display point in an easily understandable manner.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As is well known, a conventional vehicular map display device, for example, a navigation device, displays a two-dimensional map viewed obliquely from above to give the map a three-dimensional appearance. On the other hand, with the advance of three-dimensional image processing technology, it has become possible to generate and display three-dimensional images with a small computer device. Under such a background, it is considered preferable to display a three-dimensional map even on a vehicle map display device for more easily understandable map display. For example, JP-A-10-14
Japanese Patent No. 3066 proposes a navigation device that displays a three-dimensional map based on three-dimensional map information such as terrain and roads. The three-dimensional map display can be an effective method for grasping the terrain, road structure, and the like.

[0003]

The conventional three-dimensional map is
Simply provide static information (invariant information) such as terrain to the vehicle user. However, the actual scenery changes every moment, for example, depending on the weather, and depending on traffic congestion, construction regulations, and the like. The landscape is useful information for grasping the road condition, but the dynamic landscape change is not represented on the three-dimensional map, so that the map is far from the actual landscape. Therefore, even if the user looks at the map, the user cannot grasp the actual road conditions, and in this respect, the utility value of the three-dimensional map cannot be said to be sufficiently high.

As seen in VICS (Vehicle Information and Communication System),
It is also conceivable to display character information and the like on the road condition on a separate screen. However, it is desirable to enable an intuitive situation grasp without switching the screen.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to allow a user to instantaneously grasp the situation of a map display point by bringing a three-dimensional map display closer to an actual scene. And to enhance the value of use of the three-dimensional map.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a vehicle map display device for displaying a three-dimensional map representing a map display point in three dimensions. Information acquisition means for acquiring information from outside the vehicle, image generation means for generating a three-dimensional map reflecting the acquired dynamic information, and display means for displaying the generated three-dimensional map And According to the present invention, dynamic information is acquired from outside the vehicle and reflected on the three-dimensional map. In addition to static information such as road shapes, useful dynamic information indicating actual scenery is represented on a three-dimensional map. Therefore, the user can intuitively and quickly grasp the actual situation of the map display point.

Preferably, the information obtaining means obtains information relating to an actual shadow of a building as the dynamic information, and the image generating means generates a tertiary image expressing the shadow of the building based on the dynamic information. Generate the original map. The dynamic information related to the shading of the building is, for example, weather information. By drawing the map reflecting the weather, the actual shaded state is expressed on the map, and the three-dimensional map can be made closer to the actual scenery.

Preferably, the information acquisition means acquires traffic information as the dynamic information, and the image generation means
Based on the traffic information, a three-dimensional map representing the actual vehicle driving situation on the road is generated. Unlike a simple text display of traffic information, etc., a three-dimensional map can be made closer to an actual scene by expressing an actual vehicle driving situation on a map. The user can intuitively and quickly grasp traffic information together with static information such as a road shape.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a vehicle map display method for displaying a three-dimensional map in which a map display point is three-dimensionally displayed, wherein dynamic information about a scene of the map display point is obtained from outside the vehicle. Then, a three-dimensional map reflecting the acquired dynamic information is generated and displayed on the display means.

[0010]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Preferred embodiments of the present invention (hereinafter, embodiments) will be described below with reference to the drawings.
In the present embodiment, the vehicular map display device of the present invention is applied to an in-vehicle navigation device.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the entire configuration of the navigation apparatus 1, and a navigation control unit 3 in the figure controls the entire apparatus. Navigation control unit 3
The map database 5 connected to the map data has map data including drawing data, route calculation data, and map matching data. Digital three-dimensional map data including polygon data indicating a building shape and the like is prepared as drawing data. The map database 5 is an arbitrary readable / writable or read-only storage device such as a hard disk, a CD-ROM, and a DVD.

The current position detector 7 includes a GPS (global positioning system) device 9 and a gyro sensor 11
And the current position of the vehicle based on the input data from the vehicle speed sensor 13. At this time, the current position is corrected using the map matching data of the map database 5.
The obtained current position is sent to the navigation control unit 3. Further, information on the current time obtained from the GPS reception signal is also sent to the navigation control unit 3. Note that the navigation control unit 3 may obtain the current time from a built-in clock with a calendar function.

A display 15 and a speaker 17 are connected to the navigation control unit 3. The display 15 displays various navigation-related images generated by the image generation unit 23 of the navigation control unit 3. Voice guidance is output from the speaker 17 as needed. The input device 19 is a device for a user to input various instructions, and includes a switch, a joystick, a voice input device, and the like.

Further, the navigation control unit 3 communicates with the outside of the vehicle using the external communication device 21. The communication partner is an information center, a roadside beacon, a broadcasting station, the Internet, or the like. Of course, data communication with other information sources may be performed.

As a feature of the present embodiment, dynamic information relating to a road and the surrounding scenery is obtained by external communication. The dynamic information is information indicating the current state of an actual scene that changes every moment, such as weather and traffic information. The acquired dynamic information is sent to the navigation control unit 3.

The navigation control unit 3 generates a three-dimensional map reflecting the above-mentioned dynamic information acquired from outside as follows. The navigation control unit 3 specifies a map display point. The image generating unit 23 generates a three-dimensional map image of the designated point with reference to the drawing map data stored in the map database 5. Further, the map image data is processed on the basis of the dynamic information, and is brought closer to an actual scenery. The map image data reflecting the dynamic information is output to the display 15 and displayed.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the map image generation processing of the present embodiment. First, the navigation control unit 3 determines a map display point (S10). The map display point is, for example, a current position, a destination, or another designated position. The user can designate an arbitrary map display point by operating the input device 19. An appropriate viewpoint position and viewpoint direction are determined based on the map display point (S1).
2). In the example of FIG. 3, the viewpoint E is away from the vehicle position C by a distance X in the direction opposite to the traveling direction, and is more than the distance Y from the vehicle position C
Only high position.

The map data for drawing the map display point is read from the map database 5, and a three-dimensional map image is generated using polygon data and the like (S14). The map image data is converted into a screen coordinate system based on the viewpoint position and the viewpoint direction (S16). Furthermore, the light source position S (the direction of the sun) is obtained from the current time information (obtained from the GPS signal).
Is calculated (S18 and FIG. 3). Then, the shadow (direction and length) of the building or the like is calculated from the viewpoint position, the viewpoint direction, and the light source position, and is added to the map image (S
20).

Next, the weather information obtained from outside using the external communication device 21 is referred to (S22), and a map image is processed based on the weather information (S24). here,
The brightness of the entire screen is adjusted according to the weather, such as sunny, cloudy or rainy. In addition, the density of the shadow obtained in S20 is adjusted according to the weather, and the shadow is erased as necessary at night or in rainy weather. Furthermore, in the case of rainy weather, rain is drawn, and in the case of snowfall, the ground and the roof of the building are painted white. The image data subjected to the processing of S24 is output from the navigation control unit 3 to the display 15 and displayed (S26).

FIG. 4 schematically shows a screen display example.
Buildings and the like are composed of simple polygons. In the building,
There is a shadow corresponding to the current time. Brightness and shadow density of the entire screen are adjusted based on weather information. Therefore, the user can intuitively grasp the weather, which is dynamic information, as well as the road shape, which is static information, which is constant and invariable, just by looking at the screen.

<Reflection of Traffic Information> As described above, traffic information other than weather information is obtained as dynamic information by communication processing with the outside. The traffic information is, for example, traffic congestion information and construction regulation information, and it is preferable that such information is also reflected on the three-dimensional map image.

Specifically, the image generator 23 adds a vehicle on the road of the three-dimensional map under the instruction of the navigation controller 3. The traffic congestion information is referred to, and the number of vehicles is changed according to the degree of traffic congestion. For example, by changing the distance between cars, the number of cars on the screen can be easily changed. That is, a car is drawn at a large distance (for example, 100 m) at a place where no traffic jam occurs,
A small distance (for example, 10
m) The cars are drawn apart. It is also preferable that information indicating the current actual average number of vehicles (inter-vehicle distance) on each road is acquired from the outside and reflected on the map image. further,
The construction regulation information is referenced, and on the road where the construction is underway,
A clear mark indicating the construction is drawn. A schematic diagram showing the construction may be drawn on the road. The three-dimensional map processed in consideration of traffic information is output to the display 15,
Is displayed.

FIG. 5 schematically shows a screen display example.
Here, it is assumed that the traffic information indicates the occurrence of traffic congestion on the up lane L1 of the main road M. Based on this information, many vehicles are drawn in the up lane L1. In the down lane L2, there is no traffic congestion, so that a small number of vehicles are drawn. In the one-way road N, the vehicle is drawn with one side.

As described above, by reflecting traffic information as dynamic information on a three-dimensional map, the user can easily and instantaneously instantaneously view the actual situation of the road at the map display point just by looking at the screen. You can figure out.

Further, in the present embodiment, in order to make the three-dimensional map closer to the actual scene, it is preferable to perform a process for simulating the vehicle running on the map as follows.

(1) It is preferable to move a car along a road on a map. The image generation unit 23 performs a moving image generation process, and changes the drawing position of each vehicle along the road as time passes.

(2) The position of the traffic light is recorded in the map database 5 in advance. The image generator 23 draws a schematic diagram of the traffic light at a corresponding position on the map image. The traffic light is changed to red and blue at a predetermined cycle. At a red light the car is stopped,
A car is moved at a green light. Thus, the actual traffic flow can be schematically represented.

(3) Data on the number of lanes on each road is recorded in the map database 5 in advance. The image generation unit 23 writes and expresses a lane (boundary line) on a road in the map image.
The number of vehicles corresponding to the number of lanes is drawn side by side in the width direction of the road.
For example, on a three-lane road, three cars are drawn side by side.

(4) Data on the speed limit of each road is recorded in the map database 5 in advance. When moving a vehicle on a road, the moving speed of the vehicle is changed according to the speed limit of each road. Further, the moving speed of the vehicle is changed according to the traffic congestion situation. That is, in a place where traffic congestion occurs, the vehicle is moved at a low speed or stopped. It is also preferable that information indicating the current average vehicle speed of each road is acquired from the outside and reflected on the moving speed of the vehicle in the map image.

The vehicle is moved in one direction on a one-way road, and is moved in both directions on a two-way road. Then, the vehicle in the traffic congested lane is moved at a low speed.
Referring to the example of FIG. 5, in the up lane L1 of the main road M, each vehicle is moved at a low speed because traffic congestion occurs. In the down lane L2, each vehicle is moved at a relatively high speed because no congestion occurs. Furthermore, on one-way streets, the vehicle is moved in only one direction. By such processing, one-way roads can be easily grasped, and road conditions such as the degree of congestion for each lane are more clearly expressed.

(5) Further, it is preferable that the map database 5 has information on the branching direction for each lane (the distinction between left turn, right turn and straight ahead). The image generation unit 23 generates a map image such that vehicles in each lane travel in the corresponding branch direction. For example, a car traveling on a right turn lane on an image turns right when it reaches an intersection. Cars in the left turn lane turn left. Through such processing, the user can know the lane to be driven next, and can easily grasp the state of the road.

(6) The image generating section 23 draws the car at a size corresponding to the display scale of the map. As a result, the ratio between the size of the surrounding building and the vehicle is equal to the actual ratio,
The user can easily grasp the scale of the displayed three-dimensional map.

[0033]

As described above, according to the present invention, by displaying a three-dimensional map reflecting dynamic information acquired from outside the vehicle, the three-dimensional map approaches an actual scene. This makes it possible for the user to intuitively and quickly grasp the actual situation of the map display point, thereby contributing to the improvement of the use value of the three-dimensional map and the convenience of the map display device.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a navigation device provided with a vehicle map display device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating a process of generating and displaying a three-dimensional map.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a viewpoint and a light source position used for generating a three-dimensional map.

FIG. 4 is an example of a screen displaying a three-dimensional map of the present invention, showing a map reflecting weather information as dynamic information.

FIG. 5 is an example of a screen displaying a three-dimensional map of the present invention, showing a map reflecting traffic information as dynamic information.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 in-vehicle navigation device, 3 navigation controller, 5 map database, 7 current position detector, 9
GPS device, 11 gyro sensor, 13 vehicle speed sensor, 15 display, 17 speaker, 19 input device, 21 external communication device, 23 image generation unit.

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page F term (reference) 2C032 HB22 HB23 HB24 HC08 HC22 HC23 2F029 AA02 AB01 AB07 AB09 AC02 AC04 AC14 AC19 5H180 AA01 BB04 BB13 DD04 EE12 FF05 FF12 FF13 FF23 FF27 FF38

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A vehicle map display device for displaying a three-dimensional map representing a map display point three-dimensionally, comprising: information acquisition means for acquiring dynamic information about the scenery of the map display point from outside the vehicle; A map display device for a vehicle, comprising: image generation means for generating a three-dimensional map reflecting dynamic information; and display means for displaying the generated three-dimensional map. 2. The vehicle map display device according to claim 1, wherein the information acquisition unit acquires information relating to an actual shadow of a building as the dynamic information, and the image generation unit acquires the dynamic information. A map display device for a vehicle, which generates a three-dimensional map expressing a shadow of a building based on strategic information. 3. A vehicle map display method for displaying a three-dimensional map in which a map display point is three-dimensionally displayed, wherein dynamic information about the scenery of the map display point is acquired from outside the vehicle, and the acquired dynamic information is obtained. A vehicle map display method, wherein a three-dimensional map reflecting information is generated and displayed on a display means.