JP2002328029A - Navigation system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a navigation system capable of obtain the latest map information without driving on a new road nor waiting the release of a map information recording medium which records the latest map information. SOLUTION: A position obtaining means 1 obtains its current position on the earth at every prescribed time. A reading means 3 reads out map information containing road information recorded in the map information recording medium. A displaying means 4 displays the obtained current position or a map image in response to the map information being read out. A touch panel 5, which is disposed on a displaying plane of the displaying means, converts a drawn image made up by contacting a finger or an indicating tool onto the surface into drawn image information. A means for storing drawn image information 7c stores the drawn image information converted by the touch panel. A converting means 7a-1 converts the stored drawn image information into road information. A road information storing means 6 stores the converted road information.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a navigation device and, more particularly, to a navigation device for providing map information including road information.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, GPS (Global Positioning Sys
tem: Global positioning system), and superimposes the current position of the vehicle on the map image around the current position.
Display navigation devices have become widespread.
The map image is read and displayed as map information stored in a removable large-capacity memory (= map information storage medium) such as a CD-ROM.

[0003]

In recent years, Japanese roads have been changed every day since they were newly constructed. For this reason, the large-capacity memory such as the CD-ROM is sold with updated map information every time a road changes. Therefore, in order to obtain the latest map information, a general user using the above-described conventional navigation device needs to purchase a large-capacity memory such as a CD-ROM for storing updated map information every time it is released. This is very costly. In addition, from when a road was newly established to when a large-capacity memory such as a CD-ROM storing the latest map information was released, old map information had to be used.

Therefore, as a navigation device for solving such a problem, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 8-271272 is disclosed.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (Kokai) No. H11-27983 has been proposed. When the navigation device determines that the vehicle is traveling on a new road not included in the map information, the navigation device creates travel locus information of the vehicle from the current position obtained by using the GPS, and uses the travel locus information as road information. This device has a function of converting information into information and registering the information. With the above function, general users can use CD
-It is possible to obtain the latest map information without purchasing a large-capacity memory such as a ROM. However, the above-described conventional navigation device has a problem that the latest map information cannot be obtained unless the user actually travels on a new road.

Accordingly, the present invention focuses on the above-mentioned problems and, without waiting for the release of a map information storage medium storing the latest map information, and without running on a newly constructed road, the latest map information can be obtained. It is an object to provide a navigation device capable of obtaining information.

[0006]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an apparatus for solving the above-mentioned problems, as shown in FIG. , A reading unit 3 for reading map information including road information stored in a map information storage medium 2, and displaying a map image corresponding to the read map information or the obtained current position. A navigation device provided with a display means 4 for performing a drawing, wherein the touch panel 5 is arranged on a display surface of the display means and converts drawing drawn by contacting a finger or an indicator with the surface to drawing information; A drawing information storage unit 7c for storing and storing the drawing information; a converting unit 7a-1 for converting the stored drawing information into the road information; and a road for storing the road information converted by the converting unit. Consists in the navigation apparatus characterized by comprising an information storage means 6.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the position obtaining means obtains the current position of the user on the earth at predetermined time intervals. The reading means reads the map information including the road information stored in the map information storage medium. The display means displays a map image corresponding to the read map information or the acquired current position. A touch panel is arranged on the display surface of the display means, and converts a drawing drawn by bringing a finger or an indicator into contact with the surface into drawing information. Drawing information storage means accumulates and stores the drawing information converted by the touch panel. The conversion means converts the stored drawing information into road information.
Road information storage means stores the converted road information.
Therefore, when a road is newly constructed, if the drawing of the newly constructed road is drawn on a touch panel arranged on the display surface of the display means on which the map image is displayed using a finger or an indicator, the drawing is performed. The drawn image is converted into drawing information, further converted into road information, and stored in the road information storage unit.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, as shown in the basic configuration diagram of FIG. 1, the navigation apparatus according to the first aspect, wherein a drawing image according to the drawing information is superimposed on the map image. The present invention resides in a navigation device further including an image superimposing means 7a-2.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the drawing image superimposing means superimposes the drawing image according to the drawing information on the map image. Therefore, the drawing drawn with the finger or the pointing tool can be visually recognized as a drawing image, and the drawing can be drawn on the touch panel while watching the drawing image.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, as shown in the basic configuration diagram of FIG. 1, the navigation apparatus according to the first or second aspect is characterized in that the navigation apparatus according to the first or second aspect further comprises: The traveling detection means 7a-3 for detecting that the vehicle is traveling on a road corresponding to the road information stored in the road information storage means, and the traveling detection means detects that the vehicle is traveling. At this time, the present invention resides in a navigation device characterized by further comprising a correction means 7a-4 for correcting the road information based on a current position acquired at every predetermined time.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the travel detecting means is configured to travel on a road corresponding to the road information stored in the road information storage means based on the current position acquired by the position acquisition means. Is detected. When the traveling detecting unit detects that the vehicle is traveling, the correcting unit corrects the road information based on the current position acquired at predetermined time intervals. Therefore, even if the drawing drawn by the finger or the pointing tool does not accurately correspond to the new road, when the vehicle is subsequently driven on the new road, the correction means corrects the drawing so as to accurately correspond to the new road. Is done.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, as shown in the basic configuration diagram of FIG. 1, the navigation apparatus according to the first, second, or third aspect, wherein the drawing information stored in the drawing information storage means is provided. The navigation apparatus further comprises a drawing information erasing means 7a-5 for erasing the information.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, the drawing information erasing means deletes the drawing information stored in the drawing information storage means. Therefore, even if an erroneous drawing is drawn with a finger or a pointing tool, erroneous road information is not stored because the drawing information corresponding to the drawing can be erased.

[0014]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing one embodiment of the navigation device of the present invention.
It is assumed that this navigation device is mounted on a vehicle.

In FIG. 1, a navigation apparatus includes a GPS transmitting / receiving circuit 1 (= position acquisition means) for receiving a positioning signal from an artificial satellite constituting the GPS via a GPS antenna AT at predetermined time intervals, and a CD-ROM 2 ( CD-ROM driver 3 (= reading means) for reading map information including road information stored in a map information storage medium,
A liquid crystal display 4 (= display means) for displaying a map image or the like corresponding to the map information read from the ROM 2, a touch panel 5 arranged on the display surface of the liquid crystal display 4, and a road information memory 6 for storing new road information ( A road information storage means), a microcomputer (hereinafter referred to as μCOM) 7 for executing various arithmetic processing, and an operation unit 8 including a power button and the like.

The road information is usually represented by latitude and longitude information of nodes constituting the road. Further, the touch panel converts a drawing of a new road drawn by touching a pointing tool such as a finger or a touch pen on the surface thereof into drawing information which is an electric signal. Is output to the μCOM 7 as drawing information.

Further, the μCOM 7 has a central processing unit (CPU) 7 for performing various processes according to a processing program.
a, a read-only memory having a ROM 7b, which is a read-only memory storing a program for processing performed by the CPU 7a, a work area used in various processing steps in the CPU 7a, a data storage area for storing various data, and the like. It has a certain RAM 7c.

Next, the operation of the navigation device having the above configuration will be described. First, the CPU 7a starts processing by operating a power button (not shown) provided in the operation unit 8, and acquires the current position of the vehicle based on the positioning signal received by the GPS transmitting and receiving circuit 1. After that, the CPU 7a
Stores the acquired map information around the current position in the CD-ROM 2
, And a map image corresponding to the read map information is displayed on the liquid crystal display 4. The CPU 7a further superimposes the current position on the map image displayed on the liquid crystal display 4. This allows the user to know where the vehicle is on the map.

Thereafter, the CPU 7a displays a menu screen in response to the operation of a menu button (not shown) provided in the operation unit 8, and in accordance with the selection of the "new road addition" item constituting this menu screen. Then, the road information adding process is started. Hereinafter, the road information adding process will be described with reference to FIG.
This will be described with reference to a flowchart showing the processing procedure of the PU 7a.

As shown in FIG. 4, the CPU 7a superimposes and displays the drawing tool 10 on the map screen displayed on the liquid crystal display 4 (step S1). The drawing tool 10 includes a straight line tool 10a for drawing a straight line on the touch panel 5, a curve tool 10b for drawing a curve, a selection tool 10c for selecting a drawn drawing, an erasing tool 10d for erasing the selected drawing, It comprises an OK button 10e for notifying that the drawing of the new road has been drawn and a cancel button 10f for notifying the cancellation of the road information adding process.

Next, the CPU 7a performs a drawing process (step S2). In the drawing process, the CPU 7a specifically performs the following operation. First, general users
By operating scroll buttons (not shown) provided on the operation unit 8, a map image around the new road is displayed on the liquid crystal display 4. After that, when the straight line tool 10a or the curve tool 10b is selected, when a new road is drawn on the touch panel 5 using the touch pen, drawing information is output from the touch panel 5.

The CPU 7a in the μCOM 7 stores the drawing information output from the touch panel 5 in the RAM 7c as the drawing information storage means and also functions as the drawing image superimposing means, and stores the drawing image 11 corresponding to the drawing information.
It is superimposed on the map image and displayed on the liquid crystal display 4 (see FIG. 4). With the above operation, the drawing of the new road drawn with the touch pen is displayed on the liquid crystal display 4.

Therefore, the general user can draw the drawing of the new road on the touch panel 5 while watching the drawing image 11, and can draw the drawing of the new road accurately on the touch panel 5. At this time, the straight line tool 10
If “a” is selected, the CPU 7a corrects the drawing information so that the drawing is linear, and if the curve tool 10b is selected, the CPU 7a corrects the drawing information so that the drawing is curved.

Also, the user can use a touch pen to
When the operation is performed in the order of (1) selection of the selection tool 10c → (2) selection of the drawing image 11 → (3) selection of the deletion tool 10d, the CPU 7a operates as drawing information deletion means.
The drawing image 11 selected in (2) and the drawing information corresponding to the drawing image 11 are deleted. By this operation, even if a general user draws an erroneous drawing with the touch pen, the drawing information corresponding to the drawing can be erased.

After that, when the general user finishes drawing the new road and selects the OK button 10e (Y in step S3), the CPU 7a operates as a conversion means, and
A conversion process is performed to convert the drawing information stored in M7c into road information (step S4). More specifically, this conversion processing is based on drawing information, which is merely positional information on the touch panel 5, based on map information corresponding to a map image displayed on the liquid crystal display 4, and the latitude and longitude of the nodes constituting the new road. This is a process of converting into road information which is information.

Thereafter, the CPU 7a performs a storing process of storing the converted road information in the road information memory 6 in step S4 (step S5), and ends the road information adding process. On the other hand, the cancel button 10
When f is selected (Y in step S6), the CPU 7a
Terminates the road information adding process immediately without deleting the drawn image 11 and the drawing information for the drawn image 11 and storing the erased image in the road information memory 6.

When a new road is constructed by the above-described road information addition processing, the drawing of the newly constructed road is arranged on the display surface of the liquid crystal display 4 on which the map image is displayed using a finger or a pointing tool. When drawn on the touch panel 5, the drawn drawing is converted into drawing information, further converted into road information, and stored in the road information memory 6. Then, after the road information is stored in the road information memory 6,
If the CPU 7a displays a map image using the road information (hereinafter, new road information) stored in the road information memory 6 in addition to the map information stored in the CD-ROM 2, the general user CD- with the latest map information
The latest map information can be obtained without waiting for the release of the ROM 2 and without traveling on a new road.

By the way, the new road information is based on drawing by a general user by hand, and there is a possibility that there is a deviation from an actual new road. Therefore, the CPU 7a further intermittently interrupts the correction process.

Hereinafter, the detailed operation of the correction processing will be described with reference to FIG.
This will be described below with reference to a flowchart showing the processing procedure of the PU 7a. First, the CPU 7a functions as travel detection means and determines whether or not the own vehicle is traveling on a new road according to the new road information based on the current position acquired by the GPS transmission / reception circuit 1 at predetermined time intervals ( Step S7). At this time, if the CPU 7a determines that the vehicle is not traveling on the new road (N in step S7), the correction process ends immediately. On the other hand, if the CPU 7a detects that the vehicle is traveling (Y in step S7), the current position acquired from the GPS transmitting / receiving circuit 1 at predetermined time intervals thereafter is stored in the RAM 7a.
An accumulation process for accumulating data in c is performed (step S8).

Thereafter, the CPU 7a again determines that the vehicle is
It is determined whether the vehicle is traveling on the new road (step S9). As a result, if it is determined that the own vehicle is not traveling on the new road (N in step S9), the CPU 7
a terminates the accumulation processing and functions as a correction unit.
The new road information is corrected based on the current position stored in the AM 7c, that is, the traveling locus on the new road (step S10), and the corrected new road information is stored in the road information memory 6.
(Step S11), and the correction process ends.

With the above correction processing, even if the drawing drawn with the finger or the pointing tool does not correspond exactly to the new road, it is acquired when the vehicle travels on the new road and when it actually runs. Since correction is performed based on the current position, accurate new road information can be stored in the road information memory 6.

[0032]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, when a road is newly constructed, a map image is displayed by using the finger or the pointing device to draw the newly constructed road. If you draw on the touch panel arranged on the display surface of the display means, the drawn drawing is converted into drawing information, further converted into road information and stored in the road information storage means, so that the latest map It is possible to obtain a navigation device capable of obtaining the latest map information without waiting for the sale of the map information storage medium storing the information, and without traveling on a new road.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, a drawing drawn with a finger or a pointing device can be visually recognized as a drawing image, and a drawing can be drawn on the touch panel while watching the drawing image. Can be obtained on the touch panel accurately.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, even if the drawing drawn by the finger or the pointing tool does not accurately correspond to the newly constructed road, when the vehicle subsequently travels on the newly constructed road, the corrector means. Since the correction is made so as to accurately correspond to the new road, a navigation device capable of obtaining map information including accurate new road information can be obtained.

According to the fourth aspect of the invention, even if an erroneous drawing is drawn with a finger or a pointing device, the drawing information corresponding to the drawing can be erased, so that the erroneous road information is stored. Therefore, it is possible to obtain a navigation device capable of obtaining map information including more accurate road information.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a basic configuration diagram of a navigation device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing one embodiment of the navigation device of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a CPU 7 constituting the navigation device of FIG. 2;
It is a flowchart which shows the procedure of road information addition processing of a.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a road information addition process performed by a CPU 7a.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a CPU 7 included in the navigation device shown in FIG. 2;
11 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure of a correction process of FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Location acquisition means (GPS transmission / reception circuit) 2 Map information storage medium (CD-ROM) 3 Reading means (CD-ROM driver) 4 Display means (liquid crystal display) 5 Touch panel 6 Road information storage means (road information memory) 7a-1 Conversion means (CPU) 7a-2 Drawing image superimposing means (CPU) 7a-3 Running detecting means (CPU) 7a-4 Correcting means (CPU) 7a-5 Drawing information erasing means (CPU) 7c Drawing information storage means (RAM)

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page F term (reference) 2F029 AA02 AB07 AC02 AC09 AC16 AC20 5B087 AA09 AE00 CC02 CC26 DD17 DE02 DG02 DJ01 5H180 AA01 BB13 CC12 FF05 FF22 FF33 FF36 FF37

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A position obtaining means for obtaining a current position of the user on the earth at predetermined time intervals; a reading means for reading map information including road information stored in a map information storage medium; A display device for displaying a map image corresponding to the map information or the obtained current position, the display device being disposed on a display surface of the display device, and touching the surface with a finger or an indicator. A touch panel that converts the drawn drawing into drawing information; a drawing information storage unit that stores and stores the drawing information; a conversion unit that converts the stored drawing information into the road information; And a road information storage means for storing the road information obtained. 2. The navigation device according to claim 1, further comprising a drawing image superimposing unit that superimposes a drawing image according to the drawing information on the map image. 3. The navigation device according to claim 1, wherein the road corresponding to the road information stored in the road information storage is based on a current position acquired by the position acquisition unit. Traveling detection means for detecting that the vehicle is traveling above, and when the traveling detection means detects that the vehicle is traveling, based on the current position acquired at every predetermined time,
A navigation device further comprising a correction unit for correcting the road information. 4. The navigation device according to claim 1, further comprising drawing information erasing means for erasing said drawing information stored in said drawing information storage means. apparatus.