JP2002195841A - Navigation device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To previously display a topographic image corresponding to a topographic change on a traveling route. SOLUTION: In this navigation device, it is judged whether an altitude change of a prescribed value (e.g. gradient ±5%) or more is present a prescribed distance ahead of the vehicle position on a route or not, and displays the topographic image AW corresponding to the altitude difference when the altitude difference of the prescribed value or more is present.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a navigation device having a route guidance function for guiding an optimal route to a destination desired by a user, and more particularly to a navigation device for displaying information on road topography on an optimal route on a screen. About.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A navigation device that provides guidance of a vehicle and allows a user to easily arrive at a desired destination detects a current position of the vehicle and stores the current position of the vehicle from a storage medium such as a DVD-ROM. The surrounding map data is read, a map image created based on the map data is displayed on a display screen, and a vehicle position mark is superimposed and displayed on a predetermined location on the map image. Then, as the current position changes due to the movement of the own vehicle, the own vehicle position mark on the screen is moved, or the own vehicle position mark is fixed at a predetermined position such as the center of the screen, and the map is scrolled. The map information around the car position can be understood at a glance.

[0003] Such a navigation device has a route guidance function of searching for an optimal route from the current position of the vehicle to a destination, displaying the optimal route on a map, and performing intersection guidance. When a desired destination is input using a remote controller or the like, the route guidance function of the navigation device automatically searches for a route that seems to be optimal, and continuously stores nodes (latitude and longitude information) constituting the optimal route in a memory. Remember. At the time of actual traveling, the optimal route in the map display area of the screen is searched from the node sequence stored in the memory, and the optimal route is displayed so as to be distinguishable from other roads.

When a vehicle approaches within a predetermined distance of an intersection to be guided, an intersection guide map (an enlarged view of the intersection and an arrow indicating a vehicle traveling direction at the intersection) is displayed. You can tell if it's good.
Similarly, for an arrow display type navigation device that guides the searched optimum route only by an arrow display, the direction in which the vehicle should travel is guided by an arrow display, so that the user can know which road to travel. ing.

[0005]

In the above-mentioned conventional navigation apparatus, in addition to the position of the vehicle, a map around the vehicle, and an optimum route to the destination, the facility name, the distance to the destination, the map scale, and the like are used. And the arrow display type navigation device also displays the direction in which the vehicle should travel. However, because information on road terrain ahead in the traveling direction, for example, information on road terrain such as uphills and downhills, uneven roads, etc. is not displayed, it is not known what kind of terrain the road ahead is. For example, there is a problem that the speed naturally exceeds on a downhill, or the speed drops without notice on a long uphill.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to display in advance information relating to the road terrain ahead of the vehicle in the traveling direction on the screen during route guidance, thereby enabling a driving operation suitable for the road terrain. It is to provide a navigation device.

[0007]

According to the present invention, there is provided a map data storage means for storing map data including road information having elevation information together with latitude and longitude information, and a position for measuring a current position of a vehicle. A measuring means, a destination setting means for setting a destination, a route search / guidance means for searching for an optimal route from the current position of the vehicle to the destination using the map data, and guiding the optimal route, Display means for displaying an image, a vehicle position, and an optimal route on a screen; and, during guidance of the optimal route by the route search and guidance means, whether there is an altitude difference greater than or equal to a predetermined value ahead of the vehicle position by a predetermined distance. An elevation difference determining means for determining, and when the elevation difference determining means determines that there is an elevation difference equal to or greater than a predetermined value, a topographic image corresponding to the elevation difference is generated, and a topographic image displayed on the display means is displayed. It is solved by providing a generator.

According to the present invention, the above-mentioned object is attained by changing the color of the terrain image according to the altitude difference.

Further, according to the present invention, there is provided a map data storage means for storing map data including road information having elevation information together with latitude and longitude information, a position measurement means for measuring a current position of a vehicle, Destination setting means for setting a destination; route searching / guidance means for searching for an optimal route from the current position of the vehicle to the destination using the map data, and guiding the optimal route; Display means for displaying an arrow image based on the means and the vehicle position on the screen; and whether or not there is an altitude difference greater than or equal to a predetermined value ahead of the vehicle position by a predetermined distance during guidance of the optimum route by the route search and guidance means. And an elevation image corresponding to the elevation difference is generated when an elevation difference equal to or greater than a predetermined value is determined by the elevation difference determination means, and an arrow image to be displayed on the display means. It is solved by providing a raw device.

Further, according to the present invention, the above object is attained by changing the color of the arrow image according to the altitude difference.

[0011]

On the optimal route to the destination searched by the route guidance function, it is determined whether or not there is an altitude difference greater than a predetermined value ahead of the vehicle position. By displaying the terrain image corresponding to the altitude difference on the screen, the terrain information of the road to be traveled can be known in advance, so that the driving traveling suitable for the road terrain can be performed. Further, since the display color of the arrow image is changed according to the amount of change in the road terrain, it is possible to visually image the degree of the terrain change.

[0012]

(A) Outline of the present invention FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining an outline of the present invention. LT in the left figure shows an example of each road terrain in the traveling direction of the own vehicle.
M indicates the vehicle, and DN indicates the traveling direction of the vehicle CM. RT in the right diagram shows an example of a terrain image corresponding to each road terrain, and AW is an example of the terrain image. The navigation device determines whether there is an altitude difference equal to or more than a predetermined value ahead of the own vehicle by a predetermined distance, and when it is determined that there is an altitude difference equal to or more than the predetermined value, the navigation device displays a terrain image AW corresponding to the altitude difference. The information is displayed on the screen to inform the user in advance of the road terrain in front of the vehicle position. Also, the displayed terrain image AW is, for example, red for a steep downhill, green for a gentle downhill, and so on.
The display color of the terrain image AW is changed according to the degree of terrain change of the road.

(B) Configuration of Navigation Apparatus FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a configuration of a navigation apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. Reference numeral 11 denotes a C for recording map data including road information having elevation information together with latitude and longitude information.
ROM disks such as D-ROM and DVD-ROM, 12
Is a ROM disk control unit for controlling reading of map data from the ROM disk 11, and 13 is a ROM disk 1
A map data storage unit 14 for storing map data read from 1, a position measuring device 14 for measuring the current position of the vehicle, a vehicle speed sensor for detecting a moving distance, a gyro for detecting a moving direction, a CPU for position calculation, GPS It consists of a receiver and the like.

Reference numeral 15 denotes a VICS for acquiring traffic information using FM multiplex broadcasting, radio beacons, optical beacons, and the like.
Information communication device, 16 is a data communication control unit for connecting to an external information center or the Internet to bidirectionally communicate various information, 17 is a wireless device capable of two-way communication such as a mobile phone or PHS, and 18 is a remote control device A remote control interface for receiving an optical signal transmitted from a remote controller, converting the signal into an electrical control signal, and transmitting the signal to a central processing unit (CPU) described later. Remote control device for performing a destination setting operation and the like.

Reference numeral 20 denotes a route data storage unit for storing route data of the searched optimal route, and 21 denotes a route data storage unit.
An altitude difference determining unit that determines whether there is an altitude difference equal to or more than a predetermined value (for example, a gradient of ± 5%) on a route ahead of the own vehicle position by a predetermined distance from the route data stored in the navigation device. A central processing unit (CPU) for controlling and executing various arithmetic processes, a ROM 23 for storing programs used for various processes such as a route search, and a RAM 24 for temporarily storing data during the arithmetic processes It is.

A reference numeral 25 designates a map image generated based on the map data stored in the map data storage unit 13 and an altitude difference on the route determined by the altitude difference determination unit 21.
This is a display controller that creates a terrain image as shown in FIG. 1, and controls the display of various other images. 26, a VRA for temporarily storing various image data created by the display controller 25;
M and 27 are display devices installed in the navigation device, 28 is a voice output unit for outputting guidance voice and the like during route guidance, 29 is a speaker, and 30 is a bus line for exchanging signals inside the navigation device. .

(C) Terrain Image Display Processing FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the terrain image display processing according to the embodiment of the present invention. First, the CPU 22 determines whether or not a destination has been set by a user's operation of the remote controller 19 via the remote controller interface 18 (step 101). Once the destination is set,
The current position of the vehicle measured at any time by the position measuring device 14 is acquired (step 102), and a program related to route search / guidance stored in the ROM 23 is activated.
The map data necessary for map display and route search is read from the ROM disk 11. Then, the read map data is stored in the map data storage unit 13, and an optimum route from the current position of the vehicle to the set destination is searched based on the stored map data (step 103).

After the search for the optimum route is completed and the searched route data is stored in the route data storage unit 20, the CPU
22 instructs the display controller 25 to create a map image. Based on the map data stored in the map data storage unit 13, the route data stored in the route data storage unit 20, and the current position of the vehicle measured by the position measurement device 14, the display controller 25 Create a map image including the map, the searched optimal route, and the vehicle position mark. Then, the created map image is displayed on the display device 27, and the CPU 22 starts guiding the optimum route (step 104).

Next, the altitude difference judging section 21 refers to the latitude and longitude information and altitude information of the route data stored in the route data storage section 20 and a predetermined distance from the vehicle position measured by the position measuring device 14. It is determined whether or not there is an elevation difference equal to or more than a predetermined value (for example, a gradient of ± 5%) on the route ahead (for example, 500 m) (step 105). If it is determined that the altitude difference is equal to or greater than the predetermined value, the display controller 25
In FIG. 1, as shown in FIG. 1, a terrain image AW indicating a terrain change is created according to the degree of the altitude difference (step 106), and the created terrain image AW is displayed on the screen of the display device 27 (step 106). 107).

Next, the CPU 22 operates the position measuring device 14.
It is determined whether or not the current position of the own vehicle measured in step (1) has arrived at or near the set destination (step 10).
8) If it has arrived, this processing ends. If the vehicle has not arrived at the destination or if there is no elevation difference equal to or greater than the predetermined value in step 105, step 1
The process proceeds to 04 and the guidance of the optimal route is continued, and the subsequent processing is repeated.

As described above, the embodiments according to the present invention have been described with reference to a normal navigation device. However, the present invention can be variously modified in accordance with the gist of the present invention described in the claims, and the present invention excludes these. Not something.

[0022]

As described above, according to the present invention, it is determined whether or not there is an altitude difference greater than a predetermined value ahead of the position of the vehicle on the route during route guidance. Since the terrain image corresponding to the altitude difference is displayed on the screen, the user can know in advance the terrain change of the road to be traveled, and can drive and drive suitable for the terrain change.

Further, according to the present invention, the display color of the terrain image corresponding to the altitude difference is changed according to the value of the altitude difference, so that the degree of the terrain change ahead can be easily grasped visually. be able to.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an outline of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a navigation device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a terrain image display process according to the embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 LT-Examples of road topography CM--Vehicles-DN--Traveling direction of vehicle CM-RT--Examples of terrain images AW-Examples of terrain images 11-ROM disk 12-ROM disk controller 13-Map data storage Unit 14 position measuring device 15 VICS information communication device 16 data communication control unit 17 wireless device 18 remote control interface 19 remote control device 20 route data storage unit 21 altitude difference determination unit 22 Central processing unit (CPU) 23 ROM 24 RAM 25 Display controller 26 VRAM 27 Display device 28 Audio output unit 29 Speaker 30 Bus line

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page F term (reference) 2C032 HB22 HB23 HB24 HB25 HC08 HC15 HC22 HC26 HD03 2F029 AA02 AB01 AB07 AC03 AC04 AC14 AC16 5H180 BB02 BB05 BB13 FF04 FF05 FF22 FF27 FF40

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. Map data storage means for storing map data including road information having elevation information together with latitude and longitude information, position measurement means for measuring a current position of a vehicle, and destination setting means for setting a destination A search for an optimal route from the current position of the vehicle to the destination using the map data, and a route search / guide for guiding the optimal route.
Guidance means, a display means for displaying a map image, a vehicle position, and an optimum route on a screen; and an altitude difference of a predetermined value or more ahead of the vehicle position by a predetermined distance during guidance of the optimum route by the route search and guidance means. Altitude difference determining means for determining whether or not there is, when the altitude difference determining means determines that there is an altitude difference of a predetermined value or more, and generates a terrain image corresponding to the altitude difference, the display means A navigation device, comprising: a terrain image generating means for displaying. 2. The navigation device according to claim 1, wherein the terrain image generating means changes a color of the terrain image according to an altitude difference. 3. Map data storage means for storing map data including road information having elevation information together with latitude and longitude information, position measurement means for measuring a current position of a vehicle, and destination setting means for setting a destination. A search for an optimal route from the current position of the vehicle to the destination using the map data,
Guidance means; display means for displaying on the screen an arrow image based on the route search / guide means and the vehicle position; and a predetermined value ahead of the vehicle position by a predetermined distance during guidance of the optimum route by the route search / guide means. An altitude difference determining means for determining whether or not there is the above altitude difference, and when an altitude difference of a predetermined value or more is determined by the altitude difference determining means, an arrow image corresponding to the altitude difference is generated, and the An arrow display type navigation device, comprising: an arrow image generating means for displaying on a display means. 4. The arrow display type navigation device according to claim 3, wherein said arrow image generating means changes a color of the arrow image according to an altitude difference.