JP2002296066A - Route guiding system to pedestrian, its method and portable terminal - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a system and a method capable of instructing simultaneously the direction to be followed while moving, especially while walking. SOLUTION: Information on the destination inputted from this portable terminal held by a pedestrian is transmitted to a central office. The position of the portable terminal is detected, and a route from the detected position of the portable terminal to the inputted destination is retrieved by referring a map. Geographic information of the route is transmitted to the portable terminal, and the direction of the route is displayed on the portable terminal from the geographic information of the route.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a system and a method for instructing a traveling direction by a portable terminal.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art At present, in systems using the Internet and portable terminals such as portable telephones and car navigation systems, services and devices for inputting a departure point and an arrival point to provide a map and directions to that point have already been provided. Are known.

In particular, an apparatus using a GPS (global positioning system) such as a car navigation system displays and guides an appropriate map using current position information. However, since the car navigation system is premised on traveling by car, it does not take into account the change of foot, train or bus.

On the other hand, in a service using the Internet and a mobile phone, the current position cannot be grasped, and the user must manually input the current position. In addition, even with this system, there is a service that downloads map information of the current location and instructs you to transfer to your destination such as a train or bus, but you should go in any direction while traveling, especially while walking There was no service that instructed in real time.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and a system and method for instructing in real time which direction to go while moving, particularly while walking. The purpose is to provide.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, according to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided means for transmitting destination information input from a portable terminal carried by a pedestrian to a central office. Means for detecting the position of the portable terminal, means for searching for a route from the position of the portable terminal detected by the means to the input destination by referring to a map, Means for transmitting the geographical information of the route to the portable terminal, and means for displaying the direction of the route on the screen of the portable terminal from the geographical information of the route transmitted by this means. A route guidance system for pedestrians is provided.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, a means for transmitting destination information input at a portable terminal carried by a pedestrian to a central office, a means for detecting a current position of the portable terminal, Means for searching for a route from the current position of the portable terminal detected by the means to the input destination with reference to a map, and transmitting geographical information of the route obtained by this means to the portable terminal. Means, means for displaying the direction of the route on the portable terminal from the geographic information of the route transmitted by the means, and comparing the current position of the portable terminal with the geographic information of the route, Means for issuing a warning when the vehicle is away from the route by a predetermined distance or more.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the route guidance system for a pedestrian according to the second aspect, the means for issuing a warning displays on the portable terminal that a route has been deviated. And

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, means for transmitting a destination inputted by a pedestrian to a central office, and receiving geographical information of a route to the destination transmitted from the central office. Means, a current position detecting means for detecting a current position, a means for comparing the current position obtained by the means with the geographical information of the route, and displaying a direction to go to the destination; Means for issuing a warning when the current position detected by the detecting means is more than a predetermined distance from the route.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, a step of transmitting destination information input from a portable terminal carried by a pedestrian to a central office, a step of detecting a position of the portable terminal, Searching for a route from the position of the mobile terminal detected by the above to the input destination by referring to a map, and transmitting geographical information of the route obtained by this step to the mobile terminal; Displaying the direction of the route on the portable terminal from the geographical information of the route transmitted in this step, and providing a route guidance method for pedestrians.

According to the sixth aspect of the present invention, the step of transmitting the information of the destination inputted by the portable terminal carried by the pedestrian to the central office, the step of detecting the current position of the portable terminal, Searching for a route from the current position of the mobile terminal detected in the step to the input destination by referring to a map, and transmitting the geographical information of the route obtained in this step to the mobile terminal Displaying the direction of the route on the portable terminal from the geographical information of the route transmitted by the step; comparing the current position of the portable terminal with the geographical information of the route; and determining a predetermined distance from the route. And issuing a warning when the vehicle is away from the vehicle.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the route guidance method for a pedestrian according to the sixth aspect, the step of issuing the warning displays on the portable terminal that the route has been deviated. And

In the present invention, the portable terminal includes a portable telephone and a PHS telephone.

[0014]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS In an embodiment of the present invention, a portable telephone incorporates a position detecting device such as a GPS positioning system and a compass for detecting the orientation of the portable telephone. In addition, a center system of a Web site that provides route information via the Internet is prepared, and a service for delivering a route information delivery request from the mobile phone is provided. The mobile phone that receives the route information records the information and displays the direction to which the user should go when the user moves by using an arrow or the like to perform navigation. In addition, when a user departs from the route by a predetermined distance or more, a function is provided to notify the user and warn the user.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure in a mobile phone according to an embodiment of the present invention. Similarly, a processing procedure of a center system (hereinafter, center system) of an Internet Web site is shown in a flowchart of FIG.

FIG. 3 shows an example of the configuration of a mobile phone according to this embodiment. The mobile phone has a position detection unit 31 that detects and acquires the position using a GPS positioning system or the like, and a communication unit 3 that accesses the Internet via a telephone network.
2, a direction detection unit 33 having a compass for detecting the direction of the mobile phone, a processing control unit 34 for performing various processes and control, a route storage unit 35 for storing the route information received from the center system, An operation unit 36 for receiving an instruction of
A display unit 37 for indicating the direction to go by displaying an arrow or the like
Each processing unit.

In step S101, the current position of the mobile phone is detected and acquired by the position detector 31 of the mobile phone. In step S102, an input request for a destination is displayed on the display unit 37, and an input from the operation unit 36 is prompted. When the user has completed the input of the destination, the process proceeds to the next step.

In the next step S103, a route information distribution request including the current position and the destination is transmitted to the center system using the communication unit 32. The center system receives this route information distribution request in step S201.

The center system has, for example, the configuration shown in FIG. That is, this system includes a communication unit 41 for receiving information from a mobile phone connected to the Internet and transmitting information to the mobile phone, and a processing unit 42 for performing various processes.
And a temporary storage unit 43 for temporarily storing search results and the like.
And a route search unit 44 that searches and acquires a route using the current position and destination of the mobile phone as keys, and a route information database 45 that stores route information.

In step S201 of the center system, the communication unit 41 receives a route information distribution request from a mobile phone. After receiving the route information distribution request, the processing unit 42 temporarily stores the information on the current position and the destination of the mobile phone in the temporary storage unit 43.

In step S202, the processing unit 42
The current position and the destination information are read from the temporary storage unit 43 and sent to the route search unit 44 to instruct the search of the route information. The route search unit 44 accesses the route information database 45 using the current position and the destination as keys and performs a search. The search result is recorded in the temporary storage unit 43. This route information
This is information in which a fixed interval on a route from a starting point to a destination or a passing point such as a crossroad or a branch point is indicated by a coordinate value in latitude and longitude, and is arranged according to the moving order.

In step S203, the processing section 42 reads the route information of the search result from the temporary storage section 43, and calculates the approximate movement time on foot to the destination. This calculation result is stored again in the temporary storage unit 43 in a format added to the route information.

In step 204, the processing unit 42 reads the route information to which the travel time has been added from the temporary storage unit 43,
The information is transmitted to the mobile phone by the communication unit 41, the connection is cut off, and the process ends.

The portable telephone receives the route information in step S104. This is performed by the communication unit 32 under the instruction of the processing control unit 34. The received route information is stored in the route storage unit 35.
Is stored in The post-reception completion processing control unit 34
Instruct 2 to disconnect from the center system.

From step S105, the navigation (road guidance) process at the time of movement is performed. In this step, the position of the mobile phone is determined by using the position detector 31, and the current position of the mobile phone is acquired.

In step S106, step S105
Is compared with the coordinates of the passing point on the route obtained by the mobile phone, and it is constantly monitored whether or not the mobile phone is separated by a predetermined distance or more.

The route information stored in the mobile phone is a set of the latitude / longitude coordinate values of the continuous passing points as described above, and as shown in FIG. 5, each passing point is indicated on the route (dotted arrow). (The center point of the dotted circle). The dotted circle indicates the allowable range of deviation of the mobile phone. The processing is performed by comparing these passing points with the position coordinates of the mobile phone. That is, it is checked whether or not the mobile phone exists within the dotted circle.

For example, it is determined whether the mobile phone 50 moving on the map shown in FIG. 5 is within the allowable range 51 of the passing point A and the allowable range 52 of the passing point B on the route indicated by the dotted arrow. . In the case of this example, the mobile phone 50 is neither in the allowable range 51 of the passing point A nor in the allowable range 52 of the passing point B, and recognizes that the mobile phone 50 has left the route.
If the length of the point, that is, the perpendicular to the coordinates of the mobile phone 50 when the passing point A and the passing point B are connected by a straight line, is less than or equal to the allowable value, it is considered to be within the range.

As a result of such a comparison process, when the mobile phone is recognized as "leaving the route", a warning message display example 61 at the time of departure from the route shown in FIG. Warn the person. These processes are determined in step S107, and a warning is issued in step S108.

In step S109, the direction of the mobile phone is detected by the azimuth detecting unit 33. In step S110, corresponding to the orientation of the mobile phone detected in step S109,
The direction to go is indicated by an arrow. This arrow is shown in FIG.
As shown in a display example 72 shown in FIG. An example of a passing point on the route at the time of movement and an arrow indicating the traveling direction will be described with reference to FIGS. 8 and 9.

In FIG. 8, when a moving user (mobile phone) arrives at point A, the direction of the mobile phone is displayed as display example 81.
It seems to be like. In this case, the arrow indicating the direction to go is as shown in a display example 91 in FIG.
Similarly, when the vehicle arrives at the point B, the direction of the mobile phone is as shown in a display example 82, and the arrow indicating the direction to go is indicated in FIG.
A display example 92 shown in FIG.

In this way, the portable telephone user is navigated to the destination, and the arrival at the destination in step S111 is confirmed. When the user arrives at the destination, the process is terminated. If the vehicle has not yet arrived at the destination, the process waits for a certain period of time and proceeds to step S105 to continue the navigation process.

In the above embodiment, the user's means of transportation has been limited to walking. However, due to the nature of this system,
It can also be used when traveling on foot and various transportations. However, in this case, the navigation information at the time of using the transportation means may not be able to proceed in the direction instructed by the user (for example, when the user does not proceed in the direction of the arrow while riding the bus). This is only for reference, but it is possible to perform appropriate navigation when changing trains, for example, to guide you to a bus stop.

In the above-described embodiment according to the present invention, a method of incorporating a position detecting function such as a GPS positioning system and a compass in a mobile phone is described. However, a PDA having both the mobile phone function and the above two functions is described. For example, a method using a portable information terminal may be used. In this case, by using the more advanced processing function of the portable information terminal, for example, the map information is displayed, the map and the route as shown in FIGS. , It is possible to provide the user with intuitive navigation information.

Further, the distribution information from the center system is not limited to the map and the route information, but it is also possible to support the use of a train or a bus, for example. That is, information such as guidance to the boarding place (the nearest station in the case of a train, the nearest stop in the case of a bus), departure time, and the like are provided together with route information by selecting a transportation facility to be used. be able to.

In the present invention, a mobile phone which has a built-in position detecting device such as a GPS positioning system and can access an Internet Web site, and a center of a Web site which designates a current position and a destination and distributes its route from map information. Using the system, after receiving the route information, the mobile phone also has a function to indicate the direction to go using the built-in compass, indicating the direction of travel to the moving user and indicating the destination It is possible to guide accurately.

[0037]

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to obtain a system and method for instructing in real time which direction to go while walking.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an exemplary view for explaining a processing procedure in a mobile phone according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an exemplary view for explaining a processing procedure in the center system according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a mobile phone according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a center system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a view for explaining a case where the user is away from a route in the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is an exemplary view for explaining a display example of the mobile phone when the user is away from the route in the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is an exemplary view for explaining an example showing a traveling direction in the mobile phone according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a view for explaining guiding a user along a route in one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is an exemplary view for explaining an example showing a traveling direction in the mobile phone according to the embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

31 ... Position detection unit, 32 ... Communication unit, 33 ...
Azimuth detection unit, 34 ... Process control unit, 35 ... Route storage unit, 36 ... Operation unit, 37 ... Display unit, 41 ...
Communication unit 42 processing unit 43 temporary storage unit
44: Route search unit, 45: Route information database, 50: Moving mobile phone, 51: Tolerable range of passing point A on route, 52: Passing point B on route , A display example of a warning message at the time of departure from the route, 71, a mobile phone, 72, a display example of a traveling direction indicating arrow, 81, a direction of the mobile phone at the point A, 82
... The direction of the mobile phone at the point B.

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Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A means for transmitting, to a central office, destination information input at a portable terminal carried by a pedestrian; a means for detecting a position of the portable terminal; Means for searching for a route from a position to the input destination by referring to a map; means for transmitting geographical information of the route obtained by this means to the portable terminal; and Means for displaying the direction of the route on the screen of the portable terminal based on the geographical information of the route, the route guidance system for pedestrians. 2. A means for transmitting information of a destination inputted in a portable terminal carried by a pedestrian to a central office, a means for detecting a current position of the portable terminal, and the portable terminal detected by the means Means for searching for a route from the current position of the vehicle to the input destination by referring to a map; means for transmitting geographical information of the route obtained by this means to the portable terminal; Means for displaying the direction of the route on the portable terminal from the geographical information of the route, and comparing the current position of the portable terminal with the geographical information of the route, and when the current position is separated from the route by a predetermined distance or more. A route guidance system for a pedestrian, comprising: a means for issuing a warning. 3. The portable terminal according to claim 2, wherein the means for issuing a warning displays on the portable terminal that the vehicle has deviated from the route.
A route guidance system for pedestrians according to Item 1. 4. A means for transmitting a destination inputted by a pedestrian to a central office, a means for receiving geographical information of a route to the destination sent from the central office, and detecting a current position. Current position detecting means, comparing the current position obtained by this means with the geographical information of the route, and displaying a direction to go to the destination; current position detected by the current position detecting means Means for issuing a warning when the vehicle is away from the route by a predetermined distance or more. 5. A step of transmitting, to a central office, destination information input at a portable terminal possessed by a pedestrian; a step of detecting a position of the portable terminal; and a step of detecting the position of the portable terminal. Searching for a route from a position to the input destination by referring to a map; transmitting geographical information of the route obtained in this step to the portable terminal; Displaying the direction of the route on the portable terminal from the geographical information of the route. 6. A step of transmitting, to a central office, destination information input at a portable terminal carried by a pedestrian; a step of detecting a current position of the portable terminal; and the portable terminal detected by this step. Searching for a route from the current position of the vehicle to the input destination by referring to a map; transmitting geographical information of the route obtained in this step to the portable terminal; Displaying the direction of the route on the portable terminal from the geographical information of the route, and comparing the current position of the portable terminal with the geographical information of the route and issuing a warning when the route is separated from the route by a predetermined distance or more. And a route guidance method for pedestrians. 7. The route guidance method for a pedestrian according to claim 6, wherein the step of issuing the warning displays on the portable terminal that the route has been deviated.