JP2006266757A - Navigation system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To travel without return to a route which the user has travelled before, by searching circumferential facilities in a travelling direction based on the present position. <P>SOLUTION: In a facility extraction routine S107, the circumferential facilities in the travelling direction are searched. In distance calculation routines S109, S114, route distances between the present position and the position of the respective retrieved circumferential facilities are calculated. In list preparation routines S110, S115, the list of circumferential facilities are prepared. In position of facility display routines S111, S116, marks representing the positions of the circumferential facilities included in the circumferential facility list are displayed on a road map displayed on a display. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

The present invention relates to a navigation device, and more particularly to a navigation device having a facility search function.

As a prior art, there is known a method for calculating a route distance or a required travel time from a current position to a plurality of facilities, and displaying a list of facilities and displaying them on a road map in this order (for example, patent document) 1, see Patent Document 2).

The conventional navigation device disclosed in Patent Document 1 has a search base point for searching for facilities on a road map, and gradually expands the search range centering on the base point until the number of search facilities is reached. It is.

In addition, the conventional navigation device disclosed in Patent Document 2 calculates a route distance (actual movement distance) from the current position to the nearest facility (hereinafter referred to as a peripheral facility) or a required travel time from the current position to the peripheral facility. In addition, a peripheral facility list in which each facility genre is rearranged in order of route distance (actual travel distance) or travel time is created, and the icon indicating the location of the peripheral facility in the peripheral facility list and the peripheral facility list is displayed at the top. A predetermined number of items are displayed.
JP-A-9-292262 JP 2001-174273 A

The conventional navigation device disclosed in Patent Document 1 provides a search base point for searching for facilities on a road map, and gradually expands the search range centering on the base point until a predetermined number of search facilities is reached. Therefore, there is a problem that the facility search range cannot be limited to the traveling direction of the vehicle. For this reason, even facilities in the direction of returning to the traveling direction of the vehicle not requested by the user are searched, and unnecessary search time is spent searching for unnecessary facilities, and the facilities of the search result Therefore, there is a problem that the facility must be determined by excluding the facility in which the user himself / herself returns in the direction of travel.

In addition, the conventional navigation device disclosed in Patent Document 2 calculates a route distance (actual movement distance) from the current position to the surrounding facility or a time required to move from the current position to the surrounding facility, and routes each surrounding facility to the route. Create a list of surrounding facilities sorted in order of distance (actual distance traveled) or travel time, and display a predetermined number of icons indicating the location of the surrounding facilities in the surrounding facility list and the surrounding facility list from the top. Therefore, even when route guidance is being performed, peripheral facilities in a search range unrelated to the guide route may be searched, and peripheral facilities in the direction along the guide route desired by the user may not be searched. There was a problem.

The subject of the present invention is made in the background as described above, and when searching for peripheral facilities, the peripheral facility is searched in the direction of travel from the current position as a base point. It is an object of the present invention to provide a navigation device that prevents returning from a road that has already passed when the user goes to the surrounding facility.

Means for Solving the Problems and Effects of the Invention

The navigation device according to claim 1, wherein a map data storage unit that stores map data, a position detection unit that detects a current position, a direction detection unit that detects a traveling direction, and the traveling direction based on the current position. A facility search unit that searches for the surrounding facility from the map data storage unit, a distance calculation unit that calculates a route distance from the current position to each peripheral facility searched by the facility search unit, and the distance calculation unit The list creation means for creating the surrounding facility list in the shortest order of the route distance calculated by the above and a mark indicating the position of the surrounding facilities included in the surrounding facility list created by the list creation means are displayed on the road map in an overlapping manner. And a facility position display means. According to the navigation device of the first aspect, since the search for the surrounding facilities is performed in the traveling direction with the current position as the base point, the surrounding facilities in the direction returning to the traveling direction are excluded from the search target in advance. There is an effect that can be. In other words, conventionally, the search was made for peripheral facilities that are in the direction of return from the direction of travel that the user did not seek, and therefore, unnecessary search time was spent searching for unnecessary peripheral facilities, and the surroundings of the search results There is a problem that the peripheral facility must be determined by excluding the peripheral facility in the direction in which the user returns from the traveling direction from the facility, but in the present invention, the peripheral facility in the direction returning from the traveling direction. Is excluded from the search target in advance, so that the above problem is solved. In addition, since the mark indicating the position of the peripheral facility in the search result is displayed on the road map, the user can quickly determine the peripheral facility that matches the desire.

The navigation device according to claim 2 is a map data storage unit that stores map data, a position detection unit that detects a current position, a direction detection unit that detects a traveling direction, and a direction detection unit that detects a current direction in the traveling direction. A facility search unit that searches the map data storage unit for peripheral facilities that are within a search range of a predetermined angle, and a distance calculation unit that calculates a route distance from the current position to each peripheral facility searched by the facility search unit A list creation means for creating a peripheral facility list in the shortest route distance calculated by the distance calculation means, and a mark indicating the position of the peripheral facility included in the peripheral facility list created by the list creation means on a road map And a facility position display means for displaying the data superimposed on the top. According to the navigation device of the second aspect, since the search range of the peripheral facilities is limited to the search range at a predetermined angle with respect to the traveling direction with the current position as a base point, the peripheral facilities in the direction returning to the traveling direction are searched. There is an effect that it can be surely excluded from the target. In addition, since the mark indicating the position of the peripheral facility in the search result is displayed on the road map, the user can quickly determine the peripheral facility that matches the desire.

The navigation device according to claim 3 is a map data storage unit that stores map data, a position detection unit that detects a current position, a route search unit that searches for a route, and guides a route searched by the route search unit. A route guide means for performing a predetermined angle search with respect to a traveling direction obtained by linearly approximating a guide route on a road map with the least-squares method, using the current position as a base point when the route guide means guides the route. Calculated by the facility search means for searching the surrounding facilities in the range from the map data storage unit, the distance calculation means for calculating the route distance to each peripheral facility searched by the facility search means, and the distance calculation means List creation means for creating a list of neighboring facilities in ascending order of route distance, and the status of the surrounding facilities included in the list of neighboring facilities created by the list creation means The mark indicating and having a facility location display means for displaying superimposed on the road map. According to the navigation device of the third aspect, the search range of the surrounding facilities is limited to the search range of a predetermined angle with respect to the traveling direction linearly approximated by the least square method with the current location as the base point. Therefore, there is an effect that it is possible to exclude in advance peripheral facilities in the direction going backward to the guide route on the road map from the search target. In addition, since the mark indicating the position of the peripheral facility in the search result is displayed on the road map, the user can quickly determine the peripheral facility that matches the desire.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the navigation apparatus according to the second or third aspect, further comprising an angle setting unit that can variably set the predetermined angle. According to the navigation device of the fourth aspect, since the predetermined angle can be variably set by the angle setting means, there is an effect that the search range can be changed according to the user's preference.

The navigation device according to claim 5 is the navigation device according to any one of claims 2 to 4, wherein the search range of the predetermined angle is further limited to a predetermined radius with the current position as a base point. It is a region. According to the navigation device of claim 5, since the search range of a predetermined angle can be further limited by a predetermined radius with the current position as a base point, a fan-shaped area with the current position as a fulcrum can be set as the search range, It becomes possible to narrow down the search range of peripheral facilities according to the user's request.

A navigation device according to a sixth aspect of the present invention is the navigation device according to any one of the second to fifth aspects, further comprising a radius setting unit that allows the predetermined radius to be variably set. According to the navigation device of the sixth aspect, since the predetermined radius can be variably set, the search range of the peripheral facilities can be changed according to the user's preference.

The navigation device according to claim 7 is a map data storage unit that stores map data, a position detection unit that detects a current position, a direction detection unit that detects a traveling direction, the current position as a center of one side, and From the map data storage unit to search for peripheral facilities in the quadrangle with the other side orthogonal to the one side as the traveling direction, from the current position to each peripheral facility searched by the facility search unit A distance calculating means for calculating the route distance of, a list creating means for creating a peripheral facility list in ascending order of the route distance calculated by the distance calculating means, and a peripheral included in the peripheral facility list created by the list creating means And a facility position display means for displaying a mark indicating the position of the facility on a road map. According to the navigation device of the seventh aspect, since the current location is the center of one side and the peripheral facilities in the quadrangle having the other side orthogonal to the one side as the traveling direction are searched, It is easy to search for surrounding facilities in urban areas having a developed road network. In addition, since the peripheral facilities of the search result are displayed as a peripheral facility list and a mark indicating the position is displayed on the road map, the user can quickly determine the peripheral facilities that match the desire.

The navigation device according to claim 8 is a map data storage unit that stores map data, a position detection unit that detects a current position, a direction detection unit that detects a traveling direction, a route search unit that searches for a route, A route guidance unit for guiding a route searched by the route search unit; and when the route guidance unit performs route guidance, the current position is located on a circumference and the current position is connected to the destination. A facility search means for searching for a surrounding facility in the search range from the map data storage unit, and a facility search means from the current position. The distance calculation means for calculating the route distance to each peripheral facility searched by the above, and the peripheral facility list is created in ascending order of the route distance calculated by the distance calculation means A strike creating means, characterized in that it comprises a facility location display means a mark indicating the position of the surrounding facilities included in the peripheral facilities list displayed superimposed on the road map by the list creating means. According to the navigation device of claim 8, a search area is a circular area having a diameter within a predetermined straight line distance on a straight line connecting the current position and the destination, the current position is located on the circumference. Since the peripheral facilities in the search range are searched, there is an effect that the peripheral facilities in the direction reverse to the guide route on the road map can be excluded from the search target. In addition, since the peripheral facilities of the search result are displayed as a peripheral facility list and a mark indicating the position is displayed on the road map, the user can quickly determine the peripheral facilities that match the desire.

The navigation device according to claim 9, wherein the facility detection unit is configured such that when the predetermined linear distance is longer than a linear distance between the current position and the destination, the circular area The diameter is defined as the linear distance. According to the navigation device of claim 9, when the predetermined straight line distance is longer than the straight line distance between the current position and the destination, the diameter of the circular area is set as the straight line distance. Has the effect of reducing the search range circle and ensuring that the surrounding facilities can be searched.

A navigation device according to a tenth aspect is the navigation device according to the eighth or ninth aspect, further comprising a linear distance setting means that allows the predetermined linear distance to be variably set. According to the navigation device of the tenth aspect, since the predetermined linear distance can be variably set by the linear distance setting means, there is an effect that the search range can be changed according to the user's preference.

The navigation device according to claim 11 is the navigation device according to any one of claims 1 to 10, further comprising a surrounding facility list display means for displaying the surrounding facility list in an overlapping manner on the road map. It is characterized by. According to the navigation device of the eleventh aspect, since the peripheral facility list is displayed so as to be superimposed on the road map, the user can display information such as the facility name and route distance of the peripheral facility on the position of the peripheral facility on the road map. You can know at the same time.

The navigation device according to claim 12 is the navigation device according to any one of claims 1 to 11, further comprising search range display means for displaying the search range in an overlapping manner on a road map. To do. According to the navigation device of the twelfth aspect, the search range is displayed so as to be superimposed on the road map. Therefore, there is an advantage that it becomes clear at a glance which search facility in the search range is searched from the user.

The navigation device according to claim 13 is the navigation device according to any one of claims 1 to 12, wherein the mark indicating the position of the peripheral facility is an icon, and when the icon is operated, the corresponding peripheral facility The route to is displayed. According to the navigation device of the thirteenth aspect, since the mark indicating the position of the surrounding facility is an icon, the user can know the route to the corresponding surrounding facility by operating the icon.

When searching for nearby facilities with the navigation device, search for the surrounding facilities in the direction of travel with the current position as the base point so that the roads that have already passed when returning to each searched nearby facility will not return. I made it.

Hereinafter, an embodiment in which the navigation device of the present invention is applied to a vehicle navigation device will be described.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a navigation device 10 according to the first embodiment of the present invention. The navigation device 10 according to the first embodiment is mounted on a vehicle (not shown) and has a route search function and a route guidance function.

As shown in FIG. 1, the navigation device 10 includes a position detector 110 that detects the current position of the vehicle, an operation switch group 120 for inputting various instructions from the user, and various instructions similar to the operation switch group 120. Map data from a remote control terminal (hereinafter referred to as a remote controller) 130a, a remote control sensor 130 for inputting a signal from the remote controller 130a, and a recording medium (not shown) in which map data and various information are recorded. A map data input device 140 for inputting the information, a display device 145 for performing various displays such as a road map, a voice input / output device 150 for inputting / outputting various sounds, and various data such as vehicle information. External memory 155 for storing, interface unit 160 for performing wired connection with external devices, and BT (Blue Tooth) communication function BT communication device 170 for performing wireless connection with an external device including a VICS (Vehicle Information and Communication System) roadside device (not shown) VICS device 175 for communicating with these devices, And a control circuit 100 for controlling these various devices. Reference numeral 180 denotes a mobile phone that communicates with the BT communication device 170 to form a hands-free system or the like.

The position detector 110 receives a GPS radio wave transmitted from a GPS (Global Positioning System) satellite, calculates a parameter stored in the received GPS radio wave, acquires position data, and an angular velocity. A gyroscope 110b that calculates a direction based on detecting the direction, and acquires direction data indicating the calculated direction; a distance sensor 110c that detects a travel distance and acquires distance data indicating the detected distance; And a geomagnetic sensor 110d that detects the direction based on the geomagnetism and acquires the direction data representing the detected direction, and complements each data acquired by each component to thereby detect the current position of the vehicle. Detection (specific) and detection (specific) of the traveling direction are performed. Specifically, the current position of the vehicle is mainly detected by the GPS receiver 110a and the distance sensor 110c, and the traveling direction of the vehicle is detected by the gyroscope 110b and the geomagnetic sensor 110d. Since the position detector 110 has detection errors of different properties, the position detector 110 detects the current position and the traveling direction with high accuracy while interpolating the detection errors with each other. However, the required detection accuracy is required. If it is possible to calculate the current position and the traveling direction, it is not necessary to provide all the components. Depending on the accuracy, it may be constituted by some of the components described above, or a rotation sensor for steering, a wheel sensor for each rolling wheel, or the like may be used. With the above configuration, the position detector 110 functions as a position detection unit and a direction detection unit of the present invention.

The operation switch group 120 includes, for example, a mechanical switch provided in a case of the display device 145, a touch switch formed on a color liquid crystal display of the display device 145, and the like, and a control circuit that inputs various data and setting items. 100 is provided for feeding. The remote control sensor 130 is also provided as an input means, and receives an operation input from the remote control 130 a and transmits it to the control circuit 100.

The map data input device 140 includes various types of map drawing data, map matching data, map data such as road data as network data, mark data indicating facilities, image and audio data for guidance, facility genre For example, the facility genre database in which they are arranged in the order of the Japanese syllabary, and specific information about each facility in the facility genre database (facility genre indicating the category of industry, occupation, etc., location data (latitude and longitude data), etc.) It is a device for inputting various data including a facility database. As a recording medium for these data, a CD-ROM (Compact Disk-Read Only Memory), a DVD-ROM (Digital Versatile Disk-Read Only Memory), an HDD (Hard Disk Drive), a memory, a memory card, or the like is used. it can. The map data input device 140 functions as a map data storage unit of the present invention.

The display device 145 is a color display device and includes a liquid crystal display, an organic electroluminescence display, a plasma display, a CRT (Cathode Ray Tube), or the like, and any of them may be used. On the display screen of the display device 145, a mark (current position) indicating the current position and traveling direction identified from the current position and traveling direction of the vehicle detected by the position detector 110 and the map data input from the map data input device 140. (Position / direction mark), guidance route to the destination, name, landmark, and additional data such as various facility marks can be displayed in an overlapping manner. Also, facility guides can be displayed.

The voice input / output device 150 includes a microphone, a speaker, an amplifier, and the like. The voice input / output device 150 inputs a user's voice command, a facility guide or various guidance voices input from the map data input device 140, and the interface unit 160. It is possible to output a reading voice of the acquired information.

The external memory 155 is a storage device that stores various data such as vehicle information.

The interface unit 160 is for wired connection with an external device such as a mobile phone.

The BT communication device 170 is a communication device for wirelessly connecting to an external device such as a mobile phone 180 having a BT communication function.

The VICS device 175 includes a VICS sensor and an FM (Frequency Modulation) tuner, and controls, for example, an information signal from an optical / radio wave beacon received by the VICS sensor or an information signal from FM multiplex broadcasting received by the FM tuner. The circuit 100 is configured to provide the control circuit 100 with an FM broadcast signal received via a radio antenna, a radio beacon signal and an optical beacon signal received from a fixed station for VICS service arranged near the road. input. Further, the VICS device 175 is configured to have a function of transmitting vehicle information to the outside.

The control circuit 100 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a ROM (Read Only Memory), a RAM (Random Access Memory), an I / O (Input / Output), and a bus line (not shown) for connecting these configurations. It is configured around a well-known microcomputer consisting of the above, and executes various controls based on a navigation program stored in a ROM or the like. In addition, the current position and the traveling direction of the vehicle are calculated based on each detection signal from the position detector 110, and the road map near the current position read via the map data input device 140, the operation switch group 120, and the remote controller Based on map display processing for displaying a road map or the like in a range designated by an operation such as 130a on the display device 145, or point data stored in the map data input device 140, according to the operation of the operation switch group 120 or the remote control 130a. A route guidance process is performed in which a destination facility is selected, route calculation is performed to automatically obtain an optimum route from the current position to the destination, and route guidance is performed. A technique such as the Dijkstra method is known as a technique for automatically setting an optimum route in this way. The RAM temporarily stores temporary data at the time of program execution, map data acquired from the map data input device 140, and the like. In particular, the control circuit 100 has a function of executing a peripheral facility search routine S100 as shown in FIG. 2 when the user operates the operation switch group 120, the remote controller 130a, and the like.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the processing of the peripheral facility search routine S100 in the navigation program executed by the control circuit 100. That is, FIG. 2 shows the processing of the peripheral facility search routine S100 directly related to the gist of the present invention among the control processing by the control circuit 100. The user operates the operation switch group 120, the remote controller 130a, and the like. By switching the control circuit 100 to the peripheral facility search mode, the peripheral facility search routine S100 of FIG. 2 can be started.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a mode setting screen when searching for nearby facilities. This mode setting screen is displayed in a window format on the screen of the display device 145. In the mode setting screen, a facility genre selection icon that enables selection of various facility genres such as “gas station”, A facility search mode selection icon for enabling selection of various facility search modes such as “vehicle direction emphasis mode”, “route distance emphasis mode”, “bidirectional emphasis mode” (see FIG. 11), “display screen whole mode”, “ A search range selection icon that enables selection of “range limit mode”, an extraction number input window for inputting the number of facilities to be extracted by the search, and a road map displayed on the display device 145 among the searched facilities Display number input window for inputting the number of facilities to display the mark indicating the position, and finally finalize the selection and numerical input contents And "OK" icon to be operated, and "cancel" icon, which is operated to terminate the peripheral facility search routine S100 is displayed at the time. "Vehicle direction emphasis mode" is a mode that searches for nearby facilities based on the traveling direction of the vehicle, and "Route distance emphasis mode" is a mode that searches for surrounding facilities based on the route distance from the current position to the surrounding facilities. The “bidirectional emphasis mode” is a mode for searching for surrounding facilities with search characteristics that combine the “vehicle direction emphasis mode” and the “route distance emphasis mode”. In FIG. 3, the “vehicle direction priority mode” is selected. The “display screen whole mode” is a mode for searching surrounding facilities using the entire screen displayed on the display device 145 as a search range, and the “range restriction mode” is a search for a partial area of the screen displayed on the display device 145. This is a mode for searching surrounding facilities as a range. In FIG. 3, the “range restriction mode” is selected. The extraction number input window and the display number input window are configured as text boxes having an increase / decrease icon. In FIG. 3, the extraction number “10” and the display number “5” are set as default values, respectively. Note that an icon that is alternatively operated exhibits a reverse display state.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of a genre input screen that is displayed when the facility genre selection icon is operated from the mode setting screen illustrated in FIG. 3. The genre input screen is displayed in a window format on the screen displayed on the display device 145, for example, and is prepared for selecting a facility genre (type) to be searched. Specifically, in the genre input screen, a list box that is selected when a facility genre with a high search frequency is selected, an “OK” icon that is operated when finalizing the selection contents, A “return” icon operated when returning to the mode setting screen is displayed. In this case, the list box is configured to display a plurality of facility genres in, for example, a pop-up format. As the facility genre, “Gas station”, “Convenience store”, “Super department store”, “Fast food”, “Family Lenstran”, and “Bank / post office” are displayed so as to be selectable. The user moves the cursor to a desired facility genre and operates the “OK” icon to select the facility genre. In FIG. 3, “gas station” is selected as the facility genre. Note that a plurality of facility genres in the icons and the list box can be selected at the same time, and the selected items exhibit a highlighted display state. In the default state, it is set to the non-selected state or the facility genre input in advance by the user. Furthermore, the facility search mode can be changed for each set facility genre. For example, the convenience store can be searched using the “vehicle direction emphasis mode”, and the hospital or department store can be searched using the “route distance emphasis mode”.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a search example of surrounding facilities when route guidance is not performed. If route guidance is not provided, the surrounding facilities within the search range of a predetermined angle with respect to the traveling direction on the road map are searched from the current position / direction mark (current position) as the base point. The route distance to the facility is calculated, a list of surrounding facilities within the predetermined route distance (peripheral facility list) is created based on the calculated route distance, and the location of the surrounding facilities included in the created surrounding facility list A mark to be displayed is superimposed on the road map displayed on the display device 145. In addition, you may enable it to display the path | route to a corresponding surrounding facility by operating the icon which uses the mark which shows the position of a surrounding facility as an icon. In addition, the peripheral facility list is a list in which each facility name is listed in ascending order of route distance, and the “facility genre” and Data corresponding to “route distance” is written. In FIG. 5, a list of surrounding facilities including four C gas stations, B gas stations, A gas stations, and D gas stations is created, and a mark indicating the position of each gas station is displayed on the road map displayed on the display device 145. It is displayed overlaid on. Note that the sector area having the current position / direction mark as a fulcrum indicates a search range at a predetermined angle (for example, ± 45 degrees) and within a predetermined radius (for example, 2 km) with respect to the traveling direction of the vehicle. This search range is semi-transparently displayed on the road map by the control circuit 100 functioning as search range display means. In the peripheral facility list of FIG. 5, a “re-search” icon and a “continuous search” icon are also displayed. For example, when the “re-search” icon is operated, the peripheral facility at the time of the operation is searched again, and the peripheral facility list display and the facility position display on the road map are changed. When the “continuous search” icon is operated, the peripheral facilities are searched at a certain time interval (for example, every 10 seconds), and the peripheral facility list display and the facility position display on the road map are changed.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of searching for nearby facilities when route guidance is provided. When route guidance is provided, the current position / direction mark (current position) is used as a base point, and a predetermined angle with respect to the traveling direction (indicated by a one-dot chain line) obtained by linearly approximating the guide route on the road map by the least square method Neighboring facilities in the search range are searched, the route distance to each searched neighboring facility is calculated, the surrounding facility list is created in the order of the shortest calculated route distance, and the surrounding facilities included in the created neighboring facility list A mark indicating the location of the facility is displayed superimposed on the road map displayed on the display device 145. In FIG. 6, a peripheral facility list including four B gas stations, C gas stations, E gas stations, and F gas stations is created, and a mark indicating the position of each gas station is displayed on the road map displayed on the display device 145. Overlaid. Note that the sector area with the current position / direction mark as a fulcrum indicates a search range within a predetermined angle (for example, ± 45 degrees) and within a predetermined radius (for example, 2 km) with respect to the traveling direction linearly approximated by the least square method. ing.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a modification of the search range shown in FIG. The search range in FIG. 7 is an example in which the predetermined angle of the search range shown in FIG. 5 is ± 45 degrees with respect to the traveling direction, but this is ± 90 degrees with respect to the traveling direction. . Thus, the predetermined angle of the search range may be changed. In particular, by providing an angle setting means that allows a predetermined angle of the search range to be variably set by the user, it is possible to search for peripheral facilities that meet the user's preference. In addition, by providing a radius setting means that can be variably set by the user with respect to the radius of the sector area as a search range, it is possible to search for peripheral facilities in accordance with the user's preference.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a further modification of the search range shown in FIG. 5 and FIG. The search range in FIGS. 5 and 7 was a sector area (including a semicircular area), whereas in FIG. 8, the current position is the center of one side and the other side orthogonal to the one side is advanced. The direction is a square. Since the search range is rectangular, there is an advantage that it is easy to search for peripheral facilities in urban areas having a road network arranged in a grid.

FIG. 9 is a diagram for explaining a search range when “route distance priority mode” is selected as the facility search mode on the mode setting screen shown in FIG. 3. When the route guidance mode is selected while the route is being guided, the linear distance between the current position of the host vehicle and the destination G is within a predetermined linear distance (for example, 10 km). In this case, the control circuit 100 sets the search range of surrounding facilities as a circular area having a diameter that is a line segment connecting the current position of the host vehicle and the destination G. In addition, the control circuit 100 searches for neighboring facilities in the order of the closest linear distance from the guide route. In this way, there is an advantage that it is possible to search for peripheral facilities that are as far from the guide route as possible. In other words, if it is far from the guide route even if it is away from the current position of the host vehicle, the nearby facility is searched, and a mark indicating the position is displayed over the road map displayed on the display device 145. .

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a modification of the search range in the “route distance emphasis mode” shown in FIG. In this modification, when the linear distance between the current position of the host vehicle and the destination G is larger than a predetermined linear distance (for example, 10 km), the control circuit 100 sets the search range to the current position of the host vehicle. A circular region having a diameter on a straight line connecting the current position and the destination G and having a diameter of a predetermined linear distance is located on the circumference. By modifying the search range in this way, it is possible to search for peripheral facilities that are not so far from the current position and that are as far from the guide route as possible.

FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating a search example of surrounding facilities in the “bidirectional emphasis mode” which is a search characteristic that combines the “vehicle direction emphasis mode” and the “route distance emphasis mode”. In this “bidirectional emphasis mode”, an angle of ± 90 degrees with respect to the traveling direction in which the current position of the host vehicle and the destination G are connected by a straight line with the current position of the host vehicle as a base point in a route guidance state. The surrounding facilities can be searched using the fan-shaped area (semicircle area) as a search range. Even in this “bidirectional emphasis mode”, by providing an angle setting means that allows the user to variably set a predetermined angle of the search range within a range of ± 45 degrees to ± 180 degrees, search for surrounding facilities that match the user's preference Is possible. In addition, by providing a radius setting means that can be variably set by the user with respect to the radius of the sector area as a search range, it is possible to search for peripheral facilities in accordance with the user's preference.

Next, the operation of the navigation device 10 according to the first embodiment configured as described above will be described. Here, the case where the facility genre is “gas station”, the facility search mode is “vehicle direction priority mode”, and the search range is “range limit mode” will be described as an example with reference to the flowchart of FIG. .

(1) Processing of neighboring facility search routine S100 in a state where route guidance is not performed

In a state where route guidance is not performed in the main routine, when the user wishes to search for a nearby facility and the operation is performed by the operation switch group 120, the remote controller 130a, or the like, the control circuit 100 detects this, and FIG. The peripheral facility search routine S100 shown in FIG.

When the peripheral facility search routine S100 is started, the control circuit 100 first displays the mode setting screen shown in FIG. 3 on the display device 145 (step S101).

In a state where such a mode setting screen is displayed, the control circuit 100 stands by until either the “OK” icon or the “cancel” icon is operated (steps S102 and S103).

Now, assume that on the mode setting screen, the user selects “vehicle direction priority mode” as the facility search mode and selects “range restriction mode” as the search range. It is assumed that the number of extractions and the number of displays remain the default values “10” and “5”.

Then, the control circuit 100 calculates an expected search time when a peripheral facility having the extraction number “10” and the display number “5” is searched in the “vehicle direction emphasis mode” and the “range restriction mode”. Display on the setting screen. For example, in FIG. 3, the expected search time is displayed as “7 seconds”.

When it is determined that it takes too much time by looking at the displayed expected search time and the search for surrounding facilities is canceled, the user operates the “cancel” icon.

Then, the control circuit 100 detects that the “cancel” icon has been operated (step S103: YES), ends the peripheral facility search routine S100, and returns to the main routine.

On the other hand, the user operates the “OK” icon to continue the search for the surrounding facilities after viewing the displayed expected search time.

Then, the control circuit 100 detects that the “OK” icon is operated (step S102: YES), and displays a genre input screen as shown in FIG. 4 on the display device 145 (step S104).

In a state where the genre input screen is displayed, the control circuit 100 stands by until either the “OK” icon or the “return” icon is operated (steps S105 and S106).

Here, to stop the selection of the facility genre and return to the mode setting screen, the user operates the “return” icon.

Then, the control circuit 100 detects that the “return” icon has been operated (step S106: YES), and displays the mode setting screen on the display device 145 again (step S101).

On the other hand, when the facility genre selection is continued, the user moves the cursor to a desired facility genre from various facility genres displayed on the genre input screen and operates the “OK” icon. Assume that the desired facility genre is “gas station”.

Then, the control circuit 100 detects that the “OK” icon has been operated (step S105: YES), and executes the facility extraction processing routine S107 to thereby execute the “vehicle direction emphasis mode” and the “range restriction mode”. Then, a search for nearby facilities whose facility genre is “gas station” is started.

In the facility extraction processing routine S107, as shown in FIG. 5, the control circuit 100 has a predetermined angle (for example, ± 45 degrees) with respect to the traveling direction of the vehicle with the current position / direction mark (current position) as a base point, and A peripheral facility whose facility genre is “gas station” is searched from the map data input unit 140 which is a map data storage unit with a sector area of a predetermined radius (for example, 2 km) as a search range. As a result, the peripheral facilities up to the number of extractions (top 10) are searched in the order closer to the route distance in the traveling direction.

After executing the facility extraction processing routine S107, the control circuit 100 determines whether or not the set mode is the “continuous search mode” (step S108).

In the “continuous search mode”, the control circuit 100 calculates the route distance between the current position and each searched peripheral facility by executing the distance calculation routine S109. At this time, the control circuit 100 can also calculate the estimated arrival time to the destination through each peripheral facility for the peripheral facilities up to the extraction number (top 10) with a short route distance. Specifically, in the “route distance priority mode”, the route distance from the current position of the host vehicle to the destination, that is, the search range radius is 5 km or more, and the prediction according to the route distance is assumed. Calculate the arrival time.

Next, the control circuit 100 executes the list creation routine S110 to create a peripheral facility list in which the peripheral facilities are arranged up to the extracted number (top 10) in order of increasing route distance calculated in the distance calculation routine S109. The windows for the peripheral facility list up to the display number (top five) are displayed on the road map displayed on the display device 145 in an overlapping manner. In the peripheral facility list in FIG. 5, a C gasoline station with a route distance of 0.9 km, a B gas station with a route distance of 1.1 km, an A gas station with a route distance of 1.5 km, and a D gas station with a route distance of 1.9 km, They are displayed in this order. When the peripheral facility list is displayed, the control circuit 100, for the peripheral facilities up to the number of extractions with the short route distance (top 10), also includes the estimated arrival time to the destination through the facility. Can be displayed.

Subsequently, the control circuit 100 executes the facility position display routine S111 to display marks indicating the positions of the peripheral facilities for the peripheral facility list up to the display number (top five) displayed in the list creation routine S110. The image is displayed on the road map displayed on the display device 145 so as to overlap.

After displaying the peripheral facility list and the facility position, the control circuit 100 determines whether or not a predetermined time has elapsed (step S112). If the predetermined time has elapsed (step S112: YES), the control circuit 100 proceeds to the facility extraction processing routine S107. Return control.

On the other hand, if it is not “continuous search mode” in step S108, the control circuit 100 determines whether or not the peripheral facility is searched again (step S113). If the peripheral facility is not searched again (step S113: NO), control is returned to the facility extraction processing routine S107.

If the peripheral facility has been searched again (step S113: YES), the control circuit 100 executes the distance calculation routine S114, thereby performing the facility extraction processing routine S107 from the current position as in the case of the distance calculation routine S109. The route distance to each peripheral facility searched in is calculated.

Next, by executing the list creation routine S115, the control circuit 100 creates a peripheral facility list in which the peripheral facilities are arranged up to the number of extractions (top 10) as in the case of the list creation routine S110. The peripheral facility list up to (top 5) is displayed on the road map displayed on the display device 145 in a superimposed manner.

Subsequently, the control circuit 100 executes the facility position display routine S116 to mark the positions of the surrounding facilities for the peripheral facility list displayed in the list creation routine S115, as in the case of the facility position display routine S111. Are superimposed on the road map displayed on the display device 145. After the display, the control circuit 100 ends the peripheral facility search routine S100 and returns to the main routine.

(2) Processing of neighboring facility search routine S100 in a state where route guidance is provided

In the main routine (not shown) of the navigation program, the control circuit 100 sequentially executes a destination setting process, a route search process, and a route guidance process. First, in the destination setting process, the control circuit 100 displays a menu for destination setting on the display device 145 and prompts the user to input a destination. Next, in the route search process, when the control circuit 100 detects that the user has input a destination by operating the operation switch group 120, the remote controller 130a, etc., the current position of the host vehicle is obtained from the data obtained from the position detector 110. And the optimum route from the current position to the destination is searched. As a method for automatically setting an optimal route, a method such as the Dijkstra method is known. Subsequently, in the route guidance process, the control circuit 100 displays the route obtained by the route search process in an overlapping manner on the road map displayed on the display device 145, and guides an appropriate route to the user. In addition, the control circuit 100 issues a guidance according to an operation state or a message according to an operation state by the display device 145 or the voice input / output device 150.

In the state where the route guidance is provided in the main routine, when the user wishes to search for a nearby facility and the operation is performed by the operation switch group 120, the remote controller 130a, or the like, the control circuit 100 detects this, and FIG. The peripheral facility search routine S100 shown in FIG.

In the peripheral facility search routine S100, the processing of steps S101 to S106 is the same as that of the processing of the peripheral facility search routine S100 in the state where (1) route guidance is not performed, and thus detailed description thereof is omitted. To do.

In the facility extraction processing routine S107, the control circuit 100, as shown in FIG. 6, uses a current position / direction mark (current position) as a base point and a traveling direction (one point) that approximates the guide route on the road map by the least square method. Map the surrounding facilities that correspond to the facility genre, using a fan-shaped area having a predetermined angle (for example, ± 45 degrees) and a predetermined radius (for example, 2 km) with respect to the calculated traveling direction. Search is performed from the map data input device 140 which is a data storage unit. As a result, the peripheral facilities up to the number of extractions (top 10) are searched in the order closer to the straight line distance in the traveling direction.

The subsequent processes in steps S108 to S116 are the same as those in the process of the neighboring facility search routine S100 when the route guidance is not performed (1) described above, and thus detailed description thereof will be omitted.

As described above, the mark indicating the position of the surrounding facility displayed on the road map is an icon, and any one of the icons can be selected by operating the operation switch group 120, the remote controller 130a, etc. When such a selection operation is performed, the control circuit 100 performs control to display a route to the peripheral facility corresponding to the icon.

According to the first embodiment, when a user searches for surrounding facilities, a predetermined number of surrounding facilities located around the current position from the database (facility genre database and facility database) in the recording medium. At the same time, the route distance (actual movement distance) to each searched peripheral facility is calculated. Further, the surrounding facility list sorted in the order of the route distance is displayed in an overlapping manner on the road map displayed on the display device 145, and a mark indicating the position of the surrounding facility in the surrounding facility list is given from a higher one to a predetermined one. The display number is displayed on the road map displayed on the display device 145 in an overlapping manner.

In addition, since the list of neighboring facilities is displayed on the road map displayed on the display device 145, the route distance (actual movement distance) to each neighboring facility can be grasped at a glance, and its usefulness is enhanced. Become. Moreover, since the number of surrounding facilities displayed on the road map displayed on the display device 145 in the surrounding facility list can be arbitrarily changed through the mode setting screen (see FIG. 3), the positions of the surrounding facilities can be changed. It is possible to prevent a situation in which a large number of marks to be displayed are displayed unnecessarily on the road map and the display contents become complicated. Further, since the number of peripheral facilities extracted from the database can be arbitrarily changed through the mode setting screen, the load of the route calculation processing to each peripheral facility performed in the control circuit 100 can be reduced, and the peripheral facilities can be searched. The processing speed when performing the process can be improved.

Note that when searching for nearby facilities when the vehicle has just started and the engine has been started, the direction and direction of travel of the vehicle are not known. In this case, all of the road map displayed on the display device 145 is displayed. Or a peripheral facility in a search range which is a circular area having a predetermined radius from the current position. Whether or not the vehicle has traveled since the engine started is compared with the current position at the time of starting the vehicle, and it is determined that the vehicle has traveled when the distance exceeds a predetermined radius (for example, 500 m). .

By the way, in the said Example 1, although demonstrated taking the case of the vehicle navigation apparatus as an example, it is not restricted to this, It can also apply to the portable navigation apparatus which can be used for a city walk or mountain climbing, a hike, etc.

As mentioned above, although the Example of this invention was described, this is only an illustration, this invention is not limited to this, Based on the knowledge of those skilled in the art, unless it deviates from the meaning of a claim Various changes are possible.

1 is a circuit block diagram showing a configuration of a navigation device according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. The flowchart which shows the surrounding facility search routine which the control circuit in FIG. 1 performs. The figure which shows an example of the mode setting screen at the time of peripheral facility search. The figure which shows an example of the genre input screen displayed by changing from the mode setting screen shown in FIG. The figure which shows the example of a search of a surrounding facility when route guidance is not performed. The figure which shows the example of a search of surrounding facilities when route guidance is performed. The figure which shows the modification of the search range shown in FIG. The figure which shows the further modification of the search range shown in FIG. The figure explaining the search range when route distance emphasis mode is selected as facility search mode on the mode setting screen shown in FIG. The figure which shows the modification of the search range in the route distance emphasis mode shown in FIG. The figure which shows the example of a search of a surrounding facility in the bi-directional emphasis mode which is a search characteristic which combined the vehicle direction emphasis mode and the route distance emphasis mode.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Navigation apparatus 100 Control circuit 110 Position detector 110a GPS receiver 110b Gyroscope 110c Distance sensor 110d Geomagnetic sensor 120 Operation switch group 130 Remote control sensor 130a Remote control terminal (remote control)
140 Map data input device 145 Display device 150 Voice input / output device 155 External memory 160 Interface unit 170 Bluetooth communication device 175 VICS device 180 Mobile phone S107 Facility extraction processing routine (facility search means)
S109 Distance calculation routine (distance calculation means)
S110 List creation routine (list creation means)
S111 Facility location display routine (facility location display means)

Claims (13)

A map data storage unit for storing map data;
Position detection means for detecting the current position;
Direction detecting means for detecting a traveling direction;
Facility search means for searching for peripheral facilities from the map data storage unit toward the traveling direction with the current position as a base point;
Distance calculating means for calculating a route distance from the current position to each peripheral facility searched by the facility searching means;
A list creation means for creating a peripheral facility list in an ascending order of the route distance calculated by the distance calculation means;
A navigation apparatus comprising: facility position display means for displaying a mark indicating the position of a peripheral facility included in the peripheral facility list created by the list creation means on a road map. A map data storage unit for storing map data;
Position detection means for detecting the current position;
Direction detecting means for detecting a traveling direction;
Facility search means for searching for peripheral facilities in the search range of a predetermined angle with respect to the traveling direction from the current position as a base point from the map data storage unit;
Distance calculating means for calculating a route distance from the current position to each peripheral facility searched by the facility searching means;
A list creation means for creating a peripheral facility list in an ascending order of the route distance calculated by the distance calculation means;
A navigation apparatus comprising: facility position display means for displaying a mark indicating the position of a peripheral facility included in the peripheral facility list created by the list creation means on a road map. A map data storage unit for storing map data;
Position detection means for detecting the current position;
Route search means for searching for a route;
Route guidance means for guiding the route searched by the route search means;
When route guidance is provided by the route guidance means, surrounding facilities in a search range of a predetermined angle with respect to a traveling direction obtained by linearly approximating a guide route on a road map by the least square method with the current position as a base point Facility search means for searching from the map data storage unit;
Distance calculating means for calculating a route distance to each peripheral facility searched by the facility searching means;
A list creation means for creating a peripheral facility list in the short order of the route distance calculated by the distance calculation means;
A navigation apparatus comprising facility position display means for displaying a mark indicating the position of a peripheral facility included in the peripheral facility list created by the list creation means so as to be superimposed on a road map. The navigation device according to claim 2, further comprising an angle setting unit that allows the predetermined angle to be variably set. The navigation device according to any one of claims 2 to 4, wherein the search range of the predetermined angle is a sector area further limited by a predetermined radius with the current position as a base point. The navigation apparatus according to any one of claims 2 to 5, further comprising a radius setting unit that allows the predetermined radius to be variably set. A map data storage unit for storing map data;
Position detection means for detecting the current position;
Direction detecting means for detecting a traveling direction;
Facility search means for searching the map data storage unit for peripheral facilities in a quadrangle having the current position as the center of one side and the other side orthogonal to the one side as the traveling direction;
Distance calculating means for calculating a route distance from the current position to each peripheral facility searched by the facility searching means;
A list creation means for creating a peripheral facility list in an ascending order of the route distance calculated by the distance calculation means;
A navigation apparatus comprising: facility position display means for displaying a mark indicating the position of a peripheral facility included in the peripheral facility list created by the list creation means on a road map. A map data storage unit for storing map data;
Position detection means for detecting the current position;
Direction detecting means for detecting a traveling direction;
Route search means for searching for a route;
Route guidance means for guiding the route searched by the route search means;
When route guidance is provided by the route guidance means, the current position is located on the circumference, and a circular area having a diameter within a predetermined straight line distance on a straight line connecting the current position and the destination And a facility search means for searching a peripheral facility in the search range from the map data storage unit,
Distance calculating means for calculating a route distance from the current position to each peripheral facility searched by the facility searching means;
A list creation means for creating a peripheral facility list in an ascending order of the route distance calculated by the distance calculation means;
A navigation apparatus comprising: facility position display means for displaying a mark indicating the position of a peripheral facility included in the peripheral facility list created by the list creation means on a road map. The navigation device according to claim 8, wherein when the predetermined linear distance is longer than a linear distance between the current position and the destination, the diameter of the circular region is the linear distance. The navigation apparatus according to claim 8, further comprising a linear distance setting unit that allows the predetermined linear distance to be variably set. The navigation apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 10, further comprising a peripheral facility list display unit that displays the peripheral facility list so as to overlap the road map. The navigation device according to any one of claims 2 to 11, further comprising search range display means for displaying the search range in an overlapping manner on a road map. The navigation apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 12, wherein a mark indicating a position of the peripheral facility is an icon, and when the icon is operated, a route to the corresponding peripheral facility is displayed.

Images