JP2005010091A - Navigation system for automobile - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a navigation system for automobile which limit icons to be displayed in order to display a required icon, even when expanding a display area for a display map, when displaying a displaying object with the icon on the display map. <P>SOLUTION: When all the icon data for specifying the icons of the displaying objects are read out on a map to be displayed based on a scale request by an input device from a memory, the presence of overlapping of the respective icons is determined based on the all the icon data, and whether the fellow icons are interfered each other on the map to be displayed is determined thereafter. When the presence of the interference is determined, display priority about the icons is comparison-processed to select the high priority of icons, the icons on the desired map are displayed by desired map scale drawing processing and drawing processing for the each icon on the map. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an automobile navigation apparatus.
[0002]
[Prior art]
In recent years, for example, as a navigation device for automobiles, properties that can be used as peripheral destinations of automobiles are displayed on the display map using schematic icons to improve the user's visual convenience. Things tend to be proposed.
[0003]
As an example, there is an automobile navigation device disclosed in Patent Document 1 below. When displaying the landmarks in a superimposed manner on the display map, this navigation device prevents the excess landmarks from being displayed when the number of landmarks that can be displayed in one display area exceeds a predetermined number. In order to improve the appearance of the display map.
[0004]
[Patent Document 1]
Utility Model Registration No. 2602938
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, in the navigation device, when the scale of the display map is widened and the display area is enlarged, the number of landmarks is limited even if the number of landmarks that can be displayed in the enlarged display area is limited as described above. However, compared to before the display area is enlarged, the number of explosions increases explosively, and these landmarks overlap each other, which makes it difficult to visually recognize each landmark.
[0006]
For example, it becomes difficult to discriminate between an “area object” for which an approximate position such as an airport or a golf course is to be confirmed and a “point object” that requires connection information with a road such as a gas station or a restaurant.
[0007]
In view of the above, the present invention limits the icons to be displayed even when the display area of the display map is enlarged when displaying the display object on the display map with icons. An object of the present invention is to provide an automobile navigation device that displays necessary icons.
[0008]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In solving the above-mentioned problems, a navigation device for an automobile according to the present invention, according to the description of claim 1, a current position detecting means (10) for detecting the current position of the automobile,
A storage device (40) for storing a series of map data together with a plurality of icon data;
Map data reading means (110) for reading out desired map data from the storage device based on the detected current position of the current position detecting means;
Icon data reading means (121) for reading icon data for specifying an icon to be displayed on a desired map specified by the desired map data from a storage device;
When the icons specified by the icon data read by the icon data reading means overlap and interfere with each other on the desired map, icon data for specifying the icon to be displayed among the icons is displayed as icon data. Icon data extracting means (122 to 125) for extracting from icon data read by the reading means;
Display means (50, 130) for drawing and displaying an icon specified by the icon data on the desired map based on the desired map data and the icon data extracted by the icon data extracting means.
[0009]
According to this, when the icons specified by the icon data read by the icon data reading means overlap and interfere with each other on the desired map, icon data for specifying the icon to be displayed among the icons. Are extracted from the icon data read out as described above. An icon specified by the icon data is drawn and displayed on the desired map based on the desired map data and the extracted icon data.
[0010]
Thus, since only the icons to be displayed among the icons that interfere with each other are displayed on the desired map, the object specified by the icons to be displayed on the display map can be clearly recognized.
[0011]
When the range to be displayed on the desired map is widened based on the scale request, the number of icons to be displayed on the widened map increases. By pouring out the specified icon data, the number of icons to be displayed on the map is limited and optimized. Therefore, it is possible to satisfactorily identify and visually recognize icons on the display map regardless of the change in the required scale.
[0012]
According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the automobile navigation device according to the first aspect, the icon data extracting means includes:
Interference determination means (122, 123) for determining whether icons specified by icon data read by the icon data reading means interfere with each other in the region to be displayed on the desired map;
Based on the determination of interference by the interference determination means, an icon having a ratio (W2 / W1) of the width (W2) of the icon not interfering with the width (W1) of the icon is larger than a certain value among the icons. Icon data selecting means (124, 125) for selecting icon data from the icon data read by the icon data reading means,
The icon data selected by the icon data selection means is the extracted icon data.
[0013]
According to this, when the icons specified by the icon data read by the icon data reading means interfere with each other in the region to be displayed on the desired map, the icon corresponding to the width of the icon among the icons. The icon data specifying the icon whose width ratio (W2 / W1) that does not interfere is larger than a certain value is selected as the extracted icon data from the icon data read out as described above. Then, the icon specified by the icon data selected in this way is drawn and displayed on the desired map. Therefore, as described above, an object identified by an icon with (W2 / W1) larger than a certain value can be clearly recognized on the display map.
[0014]
According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the automobile navigation apparatus according to the first aspect, the icon extracting means includes:
Interference determination means (122, 123) for determining whether icons specified by icon data read by the icon data reading means interfere with each other in the region to be displayed on the desired map;
Based on the determination by the interference determination means that the icons interfere with each other, an icon having a high display priority is determined among the icons, and the determined icon has a width (W2) that does not interfere with the icon width (W1). Icon data selecting means (124, 125) for selecting icon data specifying an icon having a ratio (W2 / W1) larger than a certain value from icon data read by the icon data reading means;
The icon data selected by the icon data selection means is the extracted icon data.
[0015]
According to this, there is icon data for specifying an icon having a high display priority among icons that interfere with each other in the region to be displayed on the desired map and having an icon (W2 / W1) larger than a certain value. Selected as the extracted icon data. Then, the icon specified by the icon data selected in this way is drawn and displayed on the desired map. Therefore, an object identified by an icon having a high display priority as described above and having (W2 / W1) larger than a certain value can be clearly recognized on the display map. As a result, the function and effect of the invention of claim 1 can be further improved.
[0016]
According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the automobile navigation apparatus according to the first aspect, the icon extracting means includes:
Interference determination means (122, 123) for determining whether icons specified by icon data read by the icon data reading means interfere with each other in the region to be displayed on the desired map;
Based on the determination of interference by the interference determination means, the distance between the icons to be viewed from the desired position on the map is compared, and the icon at the position where the distance is long is determined. Icon data specifying an icon having a ratio (W2 / W1) of the width (W2) at which the icon does not interfere with the icon width (W1) is greater than a certain value is selected from the icon data read by the icon data reading unit. Icon data selection means (124, 125),
The icon data selected by the icon data selection means is the extracted icon data.
[0017]
According to this, among the icons, icon data that specifies an icon that is located at a long distance from the desired position on the map and that is larger than a certain value (W2 / W1) is the extracted icon. Selected as data. Then, the icon specified by the icon data selected in this way is drawn and displayed on the desired map. Therefore, as described above, an object that is located at a position having a long distance from the desired position to be visually recognized on the map and that is identified by an icon having a larger value than (W2 / W1) is clearly visible on the display map. Can be done. As a result, the function and effect of the invention of claim 1 can be further improved.
[0018]
In addition, the code | symbol in the bracket | parenthesis of each said means shows the correspondence with the specific means as described in embodiment mentioned later.
[0019]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, an embodiment of the invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows an example of an automobile navigation apparatus according to the invention. The navigation device includes a current position detection device 10. The current position detection device 10 is a GPS reception device that receives radio waves transmitted from an artificial satellite of a satellite navigation system (also referred to as GPS). The current position of the car is detected.
[0020]
In addition, the navigation device includes an input device 20, and this input device 20 is a portable remote controller, and by the operation, necessary information (a map scale of a wide area, details, a map display, etc.) ) Is input to a receiving unit (not shown) of the microcomputer 30 (described later) by transmission. Instead of the remote controller, a touch panel attached to a liquid crystal panel (described later) of the display device 50 from the display surface side may be used as the input device 20.
[0021]
The navigation device includes a microcomputer 30 and a storage device 40) and a display device 50. The microcomputer 30 is configured by connecting a CPU, a RAM, a ROM, and the like in addition to the receiving unit via a bus line. The microcomputer 30 is a computer that uses the CPU according to the flowcharts shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. The program is executed, and during this execution, display and other processing required for route guidance of the vehicle are performed based on the detection output of the current position detection device, the operation output of the input device 20, and the stored data (described later) of the storage device 40. Do.
[0022]
In the present embodiment, the receiving unit is not limited to the one built in the microcomputer 30 but may be one externally attached to the microcomputer 30. Further, the microcomputer 30 is operated by being supplied with power from a battery via the ignition switch of the automobile. The computer program is written in advance in a ROM built in the microcomputer 30 so as to be readable by the microcomputer 30.
[0023]
The storage device 40 is a hard disk (hereinafter also referred to as HDD), and stores a series of map data and a large number of icon data as a database so that the microcomputer 30 can read them.
[0024]
The display device 50 displays data necessary for the vehicle as information under the control of the microcomputer 30. In addition, the display apparatus 50 is arrange | positioned at the instrument panel provided in the vehicle interior front wall of the said motor vehicle by display panels, such as the liquid crystal panel.
[0025]
In the present embodiment configured as described above, the microcomputer 30 starts the execution of the computer program by the CPU according to the flowcharts of FIGS. Here, if there is a request for displaying a desired map by the input device 20, it is determined YES in step 100 of FIG. The display request includes a request for a scale reduction of the desired map.
[0026]
Thereafter, in step 110, the map data representing the desired map (hereinafter also referred to as desired map data) is read from the storage device 40. Accordingly, the desired map data is read from the database of the storage device 40. Next, the processing of the next icon data extraction processing routine 120 is performed as follows (see FIGS. 2 and 3).
[0027]
First, in step 121 of FIG. 3, all data representing icons to be displayed on the map to be displayed under the scale based on the scale request (hereinafter also referred to as icon data) is stored from the storage device 40. Read out. Next, at step 122, the presence / absence of overlapping of each icon is determined based on all icon data.
[0028]
The determination of the presence or absence of the overlapping of icons is performed by determining the storage order of icon data in the storage device 40, the order of the icons specified by the icon data close to the current position of the vehicle, or the category of the icons specified by the icon data. Done in priority order.
[0029]
Here, for example, when there are six icons read out in step 121, these icons are icon a1, icon a2, icon a3, icon a4, icon a5 and icon a6 (see FIG. 4A). If it is, the presence or absence of the mutual overlap regarding each of these icons a1 to a6 is determined.
[0030]
Therefore, if there is an overlap between the icons a1 to a6, the determination in step 122 is YES. On the other hand, if the icons a1 to a6 do not overlap each other, the determination in step 122 is NO.
[0031]
If the determination in step 122 is YES as described above, in the next step 123, the area on the map where the icons ai (i = 1 to 6) and the icons aj (j = 1 to 6) should be displayed with each other. It is determined whether or not there is interference.
[0032]
Here, as can be seen from the icons a1 to a6 on the map to be displayed shown in FIG. 4A, for example, the icon a1 overlaps the icons a2 and a3 in the area to be displayed on the map. It is assumed that the icons a4 overlap each other and overlap with the icon a5 in the area to be displayed on the map. If there is no interference as described above, the determination in step 123 is NO.
[0033]
If there is interference as described above, the determination in step 123 is YES, and in the next step 124, the display priority for each category is compared for each icon.
[0034]
For example, in FIG. 4A, the display priorities of the icons a1 to a3 are sequentially higher in the order of the icon a3, the icon a1, and the icon a2, and are further away from the icons a1 to a3. Assume that the display priorities of the icons a4 to a6 are sequentially increased in the order of the icon a5, the icon a6, and the icon a4.
[0035]
Under such display priority, the icons a2 and a3 do not interfere with each other between the icons a1 to a3, and the display priority of the icon a2 that interferes with the icon a1 is higher than that of the icon a1. Therefore, only the icon a1 is determined as an omission target. Also, between the icons a4 to a6, the icon a6 does not interfere with the icon a4, and the display priority of the icon a4 that interferes with the interference icon a5 is higher than the display priority of the icon a5. Only the icon a5 is determined as an omission target.
[0036]
When the process in step 124 is completed as described above, icon width comparison processing is performed in the next step 125. In this width comparison process, W2 / W1 ≦ K is established when the width of the icon (the width in the horizontal direction in FIG. 4) is W1 and the visible width of the icon (the width that does not interfere) is W2. Only the icon is selected for omission. However, in W2 / W1 ≦ K, K is a positive constant equal to or less than “1” for determining an icon to be omitted from display. The visible width W2 of the icon corresponds to the width of the non-interfering portion of the icon among the icons that overlap and interfere with each other.
[0037]
When the processing of step 125 is completed in this way, in the next step 126, data (icon data) representing the icon to be omitted in step 125 is erased from the icon data read in step 121. Is done. Thereby, only the icon data corresponding to the icon to be displayed is extracted from the icon data read in step 121.
[0038]
When the processing of the icon extraction processing routine 120 is completed in this way, map drawing processing is performed in step 130 of FIG. Specifically, the scale drawing process of the desired map and the drawing processes of the icons a2, a3, a4 and a6 on the map are performed at the scale based on the scale request.
[0039]
Accordingly, the display device 50 draws the desired map on the liquid crystal panel at the required scale based on the desired map data, and displays the icons a2, a3, a4, and a6 on the drawn map. By drawing, a desired map is displayed and each icon a2, a3, a4, and a6 is displayed in each area to be displayed on the map (see FIG. 4B).
[0040]
In this display, as described above, among icons that overlap each other and interfere with each other, an icon having a lower display priority and satisfying W2 / W1 ≦ K is not displayed, and an icon having a higher display priority is used. Since only icons that do not satisfy W2 / W1 ≦ K are displayed, the object specified by the icons can be clearly visually recognized on the display map.
[0041]
Further, when the scale according to the above-described scale request is small and the map to be displayed becomes wide, the number of icons to be displayed on the map thus widened increases. However, as described above, even if the icons to be displayed on the map based on the requested scale may interfere with each other in the processing in the icon data extraction processing routine 120, the display priority among the icons is displayed. Icons that are high and do not satisfy W2 / W1 ≦ K are extracted as display targets. Therefore, even if the number of icons increases as described above, the number of icons to be displayed is limited and optimized, and good identification and visual recognition of icons on the display map can be ensured.
[0042]
In carrying out the present invention, the following various modifications are possible without being limited to the above embodiment.
(1) The icon display priority comparison process in step 124 of FIG. 3 may be abolished.
(2) Instead of performing the icon display priority comparison process in step 124 of FIG. 3, an icon display position comparison process may be performed. In this display position comparison process, among icons that overlap each other and interfere with each other, a position to be visually recognized on the map to be displayed, for example, a distance from the center of the screen is compared, and only an icon at a position with a long distance is compared. Determined to be omitted.
[0043]
According to this, in step 124 of FIG. 3, an icon having a short distance from the position to be visually recognized on the map to be displayed determined by the display position comparison process as described above is determined, and the above-described determination icon is determined for the determined icon. Thus, the icon width comparison process is performed, and only icons that do not satisfy W2 / W1 ≦ K among the icons at a short distance from the position to be viewed on the map to be displayed are drawn and displayed on the display map. .
[0044]
As a result, an object specified by an icon that is close to a position to be visually recognized on the map to be displayed and does not satisfy W2 / W1 ≦ K can be clearly visually recognized. This can be achieved in the same manner by optimizing the number of icons even if the map to be displayed becomes wider and the number of icons to be displayed on the map increases.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the operation of the microcomputer of FIG.
FIG. 3 is a detailed flowchart of an icon data extraction routine of FIG.
4A is an exemplary diagram of icons that interfere with each other on a map to be displayed, and FIG. 4B is an icon that extracts a high display priority among the icons and displays it on the map. FIG.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Current position detection apparatus, 20 ... Input device, 30 ... Microcomputer,
40 ... Storage device, 50 ... Display device, W1 ... Icon width,
W2 ... The width of the visible icon.

Claims (4)

Current position detection means for detecting the current position of the vehicle;
A storage device that stores a series of map data together with a plurality of icon data;
Map data reading means for reading out desired map data from the storage device based on the detected current position of the current position detecting means;
Icon data reading means for reading icon data for specifying an icon to be displayed on the desired map specified by the desired map data from the storage device;
When the icons specified by the icon data read by the icon data reading means overlap and interfere with each other on the desired map, icon data for specifying the icon to be displayed among the icons is displayed as the icon. Icon data extracting means for extracting from icon data read by the data reading means;
A vehicle navigation apparatus comprising: display means for drawing and displaying an icon specified by the icon data on the desired map based on the desired map data and the icon data extracted by the icon data extraction means. The icon data extracting means includes
Interference determining means for determining whether or not icons specified by the icon data read by the icon data reading means interfere with each other in a region to be displayed on the desired map;
Based on the determination of interference by the interference determination means, an icon having a ratio (W2 / W1) of the width (W2) of the icon not interfering with the width (W1) of the icon is larger than a certain value among the icons. Icon data selection means for selecting icon data to be selected from the icon data read by the icon data reading means,
2. The automobile navigation apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the icon data selected by the icon data selecting means is used as the extracted icon data. The icon extracting means includes
Interference determining means for determining whether or not icons specified by the icon data read by the icon data reading means interfere with each other in a region to be displayed on the desired map;
Based on the determination by the interference determination means that the icons interfere with each other, an icon having a high display priority is determined among the icons, and the width (W2) where the icon does not interfere with the icon width (W1) among the determined icons. Icon data selection means for selecting icon data for specifying an icon whose ratio (W2 / W1) is greater than a certain value from the icon data read by the icon data reading means,
2. The automobile navigation apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the icon data selected by the icon data selecting means is used as the extracted icon data. The icon extracting means includes
Interference determining means for determining whether or not icons specified by the icon data read by the icon data reading means interfere with each other in a region to be displayed on the desired map;
Based on the determination of interference by the interference determination means, the distance between the icons to be viewed on the desired map is compared, the icon at the position where the distance is long is determined, and the determination icon Of these, icon data for identifying an icon having a ratio (W2 / W1) of the width (W2) at which the icon does not interfere with the width (W1) of the icon is greater than a certain value from the icon data read by the icon data reading means. An icon data selection means to select,
2. The automobile navigation apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the icon data selected by the icon data selecting means is used as the extracted icon data.

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